Of Titans and Alchemists
by CiscoTheSoto
Summary: After the Elric brothers finally defeat Father, they are transported by Truth to an apocalyptic world barred by 3 walls to protect humanity from monsters that lurk just outside the tense safe havens, voracious for human flesh. Will these Elric brothers manage to find a way back home, or will they be devoured like livestock by the monsters that imprisoned humanity?
1. Truth Hurts

"Well everyone, sit back and enjoy the show!"

Everyone gasped in awe and shock as the young Elric brother activated the human transmutation circle. The battle against Father had been nothing short of a monstrous bloodbath. The homunculi had shown no remorse, effortlessly deflecting all the weapons the soldiers had to attack with, deflecting even the mightiest blows from the strongest alchemists with ease, even destroying Edward's mechanical arm. It had seemed hopeless, until the unthinkable happened: Alphonse Elric had sacrificed his body to help Edward combat Father. But it was only with the help of Greed, with his noble sacrifice, that the heroes had been able to defeat Father, sending him to the Gates of Truth to receive his punishment. However, there was no time for celebration, as Alphonse was still at the gates of Truth. Ed was in panic mode. What could he do? There had always been a way; always been a different angle, always been a transmutation he could think of to save himself from the worst of problems. But damn it, why couldn't he think of anything. Then Hohenheim had come in, having the audacity to use himself as a sacrifice to save Al, the bastard! Why did he have to leave?! Why didn't he even stop to consider how he and Al would have wanted?! He could never forgive him, even if he was Ed's no good rotten excuse for a father. But then it came to him. Ed couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. So, with a devilish grin on his face, he told everyone to step back as he worked his magic, declaring it would be his last transmutation ever, and in a flash, Ed was gone.

As Ed opened his eyes, the bright, white emptiness of the surroundings settled in for him, with Ed's very own Portal of Truth towering behind him. He was back. Was it really that long ago? Was it really so many years ago that Ed had the delusional idea to bring their mom back, when he declared himself the worst brother ever for bringing Al into that moronic idea, and had them sent to this desolate and almost nightmarish place? That moment really felt like it was yesterday. Suddenly, without warning an outline appeared in front of him. The being had an elementary body, with the outline of a teenage boy, the white surrounding his entire body, and his most unsettling feature: the smile. He had the mind of an arrogant child, mocking Ed for believing he, a mere human, could reverse death itself. Who else could it be but Truth? Shivers shot up Ed's spine whenever the mere thought of Truth crossed his mind.

"So, Edward Elric. It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I think it's pretty obvious that you want your brother back. So, what is your payment going to be in exchange for Alphonse, boy?"

Ed stared and snarled at the white figure that sat cross-legged opposite of him, but remembering he had to keep his cool, calmed down and gave him an icy stare.

"Well here's your payment. My own Door of Truth in exchange for Al. Since it's my door, I can do what I want with it, am I right? So I'm choosing to give up my Door of Truth for Al's body. That's my proposition."

As Ed finished his proposition, Truth's smile faded, replaced with a look of surprise.

"Are you sure about this? You do know that once you trade this door, you will never be able to perform alchemy again?"

Ed dwelled on Truth's words for a moment, looking off into the white void stretching out in all directions. Could he really give up alchemy that easily? Ever since he had learned alchemy with Alphonse, his life had been filled with many amazing adventures, meeting many new friends along the way, being able to help the people who needed it the most, and to be honest, every time he used alchemy, it gave him a rush of euphoria, knowing he could change the construction of matter to his whim. Was this really what he wanted?

"Meh. Who needs stupid alchemy when I have the best friends and family I could ever ask for?"

Truth stared at Ed in disbelief. He would have never thought he had seen the day a human was able to beat him, the universe itself, at his own game. Perhaps there was still a glimmer of hope for humans after all.

"Congratulations Ed! You beat me at my own game! Go on and take your brother! You've earned it! Bring him home!"

Ed smiled with delight as he saw the space in front of him disappear to reveal Alphonse. But when he laid eyes on him, he could barely believe what he saw. Slowly but surely walking up to his younger brother, he sadly noted the body in front of him was damn near close to being a skeleton. He was naked, with his body malnourished beyond belief. His arms drooped to his sides, his legs not even having the muscle mass or the strength to stand up. Ed was mortified, once again, seeing Al in the state he was, but aside from all the horrendous details, Ed's hope was reignited when he looked into his little brothers eyes. Those eyes that spoke volumes of passion, kindness, and determination without uttering a single word. His eyes glimmered with the light of hope, yet still were untainted by the picture of innocence Al always managed to keep. Even with the worst of people showed him the worst of humanity, that purity still remained deep to the core of his heart.

Ed slowly reached his hands and laid them on Al's thin shoulders. In that instant, Al emotions festered to the surface and tears began to form in his eyes.

"Well what took you so long, big brother?" said Al, barely able to speak above a whisper.

"Well, maybe next time, you fight off the most powerful homunculi by yourself!"

Al couldn't help but laugh at his brother's defensive attitude, and Ed couldn't help but catch his brother's contagious laughter.

"Well brother, lets go home."

"No kidding. Let's go eat some of Winry's special pie!"

Both stood there in anticipation as they were ready to return to their father and the others any moment, but as the seconds passed by, their grins slowly turned into grimaces. The Erlic brothers began to look around, waiting for the scene around them to change, but to their dismay, nothing was there except the white emptiness of space.

"Sorry you two, but you're work isn't finished yet."

Both brothers turned their heads as they saw Truth, and their eyes were as wide as saucers when they saw the hulking shape Truth had taken. He had grown to nearly 14 meters tall, towering over them with his surprising new height.

"Truth, what are you talking about? I did what you asked! I gave you my Door of Truth! What the fuck you want from us?!" screamed Ed, unable to comprehend what more Truth wanted from him and his brother.

Truth's face didn't even change a shade at Ed's sudden outburst, and the edges of his mouth simply spread even wider. "Well, Edward, I could explain it, but then that wouldn't be as fun! So, I'll see you later, Elric Brothers!"

And within the blink of in eye, both Edward and Alphonse fell down into a black hole, as the white landscape slowly disappeared from their view, and they fell to a seemingly endless pit.

The two teenage boys groaned in pain, barely able to muster enough energy to get up. The aching in their bodies was amplified as both moved into a seating posture. That aching however was soon taken over by the complete change of wardrobe and appearance they both had underwent.

"Al! What happened to you?!"

"Brother! I could say the same for you!"

The brother's heads tilted sideways in confusion at what the other was talking about, but both looked down at their clothing and realized what was so surprising. Al and Ed were wearing white leggings, with long brown boots for shoes. Ed's classic blood red jacket and black undershirt had vanished out of sight, replaced with a plain white undershirt covered by jackets containing a strange symbol neither had ever seen before.

As they were observing each other, they began to take note of the landscape around him. They seemed to be in a small crater of some sort, with cabins littering the surrounding field. Not far from where they were stood a watchtower, with a fence surrounding a part of the area they were in, and the rock formations surrounding the other areas. Beyond the fence were a series of mountain ranges and a crisp blue sky with clouds and the heat of the sun shining about the alchemists.

Several yards away, they saw several teens that were wearing identical garments to them, and were lining up, as if preparing for a oration or event of some kind.

Both simply stood there in awe, attempting to comprehend what was happening. As both stood in surprise and a state of shock, the duo were too distracted to see the officer who noticed them standing like brain dead lackeys.

"What are you two doing?! All cadets are to be report to the campus for training!"

Snapping out of their trance, Edward and Alphonse turned to see a man standing to their right.

"Training for what exactly?"

"What are you stupid or something? To kill titans of course!"

* * *

 _So hello, everybody. This is my first fan fiction. I'm relatively new to the creation of fan fictions. I would really appreciate some reviews to make sure that this is worth continuing, since there are a lot of these fan fictions that are discontinued even though they are really good. Just to let you know, any events of the anime that I don't specifically change, assume they would continue just like the anime. Hope you enjoy!_


	2. The Run

_Alright, so the 2nd chapter is up._

 _I did my best to keep everybody in character, so enjoy. I'm sorry it took so long to upload it, but Fanfiction wouldn't let me, and I always got . , so I don't know what to do about it._

 _I do not own Attack on Titan._

* * *

"What are you guys stupid or something? To kill titans of course!"

What the hell was this geezer talking about? Ed didn't understand. If this was some sort of military branch for Capital city, with his credentials, he would have been made aware of this branches existence by now. But what did he mean by titans? Nothing matching that had ever appeared in teacher's studies, and he couldn't help but wonder why they needed to be killed. And besides, this still didn't explain why Ed and Al had aged significantly from just moments before. Where the hell did Truth put them?

"Alright you two! Move it!"

They were quickly rushed to the right corner of a group of soldiers who had the same clothing as they did. When the Elrics were just about to ask each other the questions racing through both their minds, their eyes quickly drew to the man in the center of the crowd of soldiers.

The man had an oval face with a defined, muscular chin with a goatee, and a sturdy jaw line. He had a narrow, oblong face with angular cheekbones. His mouth formed to a simple blank slate, but his eyes said otherwise. Within the depths of this mans eyes, Ed and Al could see the deep pain and suffering this man must have gone through. The nightmares and memories that must haunt him every night form the horrors he must has encountered in his life, and the brothers couldn't help but wonder if perhaps these titans the soldier was talking about had some correlation to the steely gaze in this mans eyes. Ed had seen that kind of determined, stone cold face with the Major General Armstrong, but with this man, it was on a much higher level. It appeared that the years of service had worn him down, as the dark circles around his eyes practically screamed torment, however he still had an air of authority that was palpable to everyone and demanded absolute respect.

"Straighten those spines, piss-ants! As of today, the 104th Cadet Core boot camp starts now! For those of you who don't know, my name is Commander Keith Shadis, and all you maggots will grow to despise me! This camp is gonna be a soul crushing tour of hell, and if all goes how it should, you won't be able to close your eyes without the terrors of this place bubbling up to haunt you for the rest of your pathetic lives! As of now, you are just trash, not even worth the dirt under my boots, but with my training and expertise, I'll make sure you'll be able to mow down your very own goliath! This is the moment in your life when you consider whether you're a warrior, or livestock for the titans to devour! Are you gonna let your bones be crushed by the titan's boulder size incisors, or are you gonna bite em where it hurts?!"

The Elrics calm demeanor quickly but silently changed to a demeanor of slight concern. This man clearly was meant to break them down physically and mentally. Not even teacher ever had the mouth this Commander Shadis had. If this is what this kind of military had to offer, it looked like these two might be in for a whole different definition of pain.

"Hey runt! Am I disturbing your daydreams, or do you have your head so high up your ass you can't even hear me?"

Ed didn't even see Commander Shadis come up to him, but when he heard this guy call him runt, his attention instantly diverted to the commander in front of him. Just as Ed was about to go on a ranting, hurling insults right back at him, he turned to look at Alphonse, whose wide eyes and rapid increase in breath rate alerted him to the distress and concern Al was feeling. He could practically hear what Al was screaming at him with the look in his eyes.

'Now isn't the time or place to talk back'

Swallowing his pride, Ed looked at the commander with a neutral face yet eyes filled with anger and defiance.

"Of course not sir!"

"Let me ask you something! Where is your maggot family from?"

"Um… Resembool sir!"

"What a stupid ass name for a town! Since I've never heard of it, I'm guessing you're one of the districts of Wall Maria that was taken by the titans, or am I wrong, pipsqueak?!"

That did it! If this thought he could get away with calling him short, he had another thing coming

"Don't call me short, dick face!"

Everyone stared at him in complete shock. Even the head strong loner Annie Leonheart gave this new kid a look of awe. A few of the cadets started murmuring to each other, wondering if this guy was mentally insane or just had enough balls to talk back to Commander Shadis.

Ed looked around, suddenly regretting what he said. Maybe that wasn't the smoothest move, but he wasn't going to let anybody call him a pipsqueak. Whatever the case, that short lived confidence quickly drained away as he felt a new sense of dread coming up to bite him as he saw the Commanders eyes darken at his sudden outburst.

"So we got ourselves a comedian, huh? You think you're gonna put on a nifty show by acting like a badass? Alright then. 100 laps around the camp every day for the week, or until the sun comes down. Whichever comes last. And you better hurry if you don't want to miss dinner."

Ed opened his mouth to protest, but the Commander's dead serious face made him see there wasn't anything he could do to change his mind. With a final rebellious scoff, Ed started sprinting away from the group. Oh well then. At least this would give Ed some time to think about what the hell was going on and why they were there.

* * *

Shortly after Ed had left to start his run, Al watched as the commander observed all of the fresh recruits, and he had been lucky enough not to be one of the people called out. While the commander went around inspecting the fresh recruits, Al managed to make out the names of a few other cadets, such as Jean Kirstein, Marco Bott, Armin Arlert, and a few others. One of the cadets, apparently named Sasha Blouse, was consuming a potato while the instructor was inspecting, and she had the honor of running 200 laps with Ed. After the formalities were out of the way, Al was intrigued as he was introduced to a special kind of training in which you had to maintain balance with 2 bungee cords holding them up from the side, which seemed to be for some device called a 3-d Maneuver Gear. Fortunately for Al, he didn't have to go perform this exercise in front of the soldiers since there wasn't enough time to get to him. As soon as the training was finished, he sat himself near one of the cabins he has been assigned to see Ed run his 150th lap.

"I can't believe that he's ran 150 laps while Sasha is only on her 100th lap. Honestly, that new guy barely seems like he's taken a sweat."

Al looked next to him to see a few of the other cadets had come to sit next to him and watch Ed finish his punishment. The male soldier who just spoke had a slim build, with bright hazel eyes, and a distinctively shaved head. He smug face showed that he was a more of a go with the flow kind of soldier. He was dressed in a simple long-sleeve white shirt and shin-length brown slacks.

"The name's Connie Springer. You probably already recognize Marco and Armin, and right here is Eren Yaeger."

"Oh hello there. My name is Alphonse Elric."

Alphonse wasn't quite sure if it was the best idea to socialize with these cadets. I mean, he still didn't even know where they were. In his opinion, now wasn't the best time to get to know others better, so he simply stayed quiet for a few seconds until Armin decided to break the silence.

"I have to say, you and that soldier seem to have a connection. You wouldn't happen to be related to him in any sort of way, would you?"

"Oh yea. That's my brother Edward Elric."

"Your brother has got some real balls speaking up to the instructor like that. I was surprised," said Eren, finally speaking up after a moment of silence.

Alphonse couldn't help but notice the hint of respect that stood out in Eren's words. Al had been horrified when brother had the audacity to speak out like that. He should have known better, but then again, this is brother he was talking about.

'Brother, don't worry. I know we will figure this out. '

* * *

Commander Shadis lounged at the top of the watchtower as he began to take a glimpse at how the two trainees were progressing with their run. Shadis was more than happy to silence those who attempted to usurp his authority with their own defiant nature. In order for these soldiers to truly progress in life, they must learn respect towards their superiors, and the two soldiers running were prime examples of brazen fools, and Shadis simply disillusioned them into thinking rebellious behavior would go unpunished.

Shadis was more than pleased as she saw the girl barely making it through her run. Her arms were limping from her sides, as she was gasping for oxygen, barely even able to stand up straight, much less run. How pathetically out of shape she was. Well, on the bright side for him, this would serve as a dual purpose: giving the girl some exercise, and displaying his authority.

"Now where is the blonde haired shorty…"

The corners of his mouth tugged into a small grimace at the sight of the male cadet sprinting at full speed across the camp, as if this was nothing more than a Sunday jog in the woods. His arms were at his sides, with his back straight up, and chin held up in a way of shouting, 'Is this all you got?'

Fury and incomprehension were released as Shadis marveled at this cadet's surprising ability to maintain such a high speed with an inhuman tolerance to exhaustion. There was no way that Shadis would let this go untested. No, he had to make this kid pay. He would find a way. He bet his life on that.

* * *

As the hour passed and the other cadets prepared to go to dinner, Alphonse stayed and watched Ed finish his final lap. Al rushed up to him as he fell onto the ground from sheer exhaustion.

"BROTHER!"

That was all Ed could process before he was thrown into a bear hug aimed around his chest that winded him to the ground, tensing his already stone stiff muscles.

"Jeez Al! Calm down! It was just a run! I'm alright!"

The young Elric brother quickly released himself from his older brother. "I know. I'm sorry brother, but its just that I didn't know if you would be alright after running for a fourth of the day. I didn't know what would happen to you…" said Al as he shrunk down on the ground, his hands trembling as he did so.

"Al." Fear and anxiety were clearly clawing at his younger brother, and he placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, meeting his worried borther's eyes. "We survived 6 months of Teacher's training. I think I can handle this torment for a week. And besides, the automail kinda takes a little pain off", said Ed, a sheepish grin appearing on his face

There was suddenly an abnormally loud growl resonating through the air. Both brothers burned with embarrassment, as their hunger became known to each other.

"Well I guess there's no harm to going to the dining hall."

"Of course brother. And besides, I still have the notebook of everything I want to eat, so I might as well get started now."

With reinvigorated enthusiasm, the Elric Brothers ran to the dining hall, completely forgetting about the worry and anxiety growing in the back of their minds.

* * *

 _Well that's a wrap for chapter 2. I'll be sure to add more chemistry between the different characters in the next chapter, but this chapter was basically getting the Elric brothers acquainted with the world they were living in. Until Chapter 3!_


	3. History of the Monsters Within

Al was a freak of nature.

As soon as Ed and Al had entered to dining room, Al resumed his momentary pause of consumption, and began practically inhaled his food. He was just lucky enough that the military was serving extra rations for first time soldiers, or else Shadis might have had a serious problem on his hands. For the young Elric brother, he relished the feelings of being able to feel once more. While training, Al hadn't had the time to take in all of his senses since his focus was set on the training regiment, but now that they had free time, Al was going insane, touching everything, from the silverware, to his clothes, to even his own face as he admired the feeling of sense once again. Ed simply smiled at Al, feeling a great weight floating off of his shoulders, basking in the fact that after all of the sacrifices they had made, his brother had regained his body once again.

While Alphonse was acting like a 2nd Gluttony and consuming everything that came into sight, the cadets were staring at him wide eyed and slack jawed. None of them had ever seen anybody act this jittery and hungry. These two cadets were an odd pair. That was more than clear for them.

"So Al, I was thinking about talking over what we should do, now that we have some time to ourselves."

" Ok brotmmher. Wmmnwhat swwhowld we dwwo?

"Al, come on! I know you haven't eaten in a while, but at least try and have some manners!"

"Sorry", said Alphonse as he finished gulping his last bit of food.

"Ok, well lets think. It seems to me that we're in some different kind of district or land. I'm not sure where, but it's pretty obvious that nobody is aware of Amestris at all, as nobody even recognized us, and I mean, look at us! We must be in a foreign land, like Xing, but it doesn't make any sense. This land should have come up at least once in our studies, and we read hundreds of books."

Al and Ed dwelled on it for a moment. They didn't have access to a library, so searching the material was out of the question. They couldn't escape. They didn't know where they were, so running away wouldn't do them much good. Besides, at least here, they got some decent exercise and 3 meals a day, they hoped. Socializing with the cadets might not be the best move, but it might be the best option into getting a good idea on what they were up against.

But Ed was more concerned about something else: his automail. He was lucky enough that Truth had perfectly retuned and refurbished his mechanic arm and leg, so at the moment he didn't have to worry, but he knew that eventually he would have to get repairs. But he had no idea where he was. And along with that, there didn't seem to be any sort of trains or phones, not even cars, since he had seen a wagon filled with soldiers riding out of the camp, who knows why, so he had to guess they primarily used horses as transportation. He hoped he was wrong, but he would cross that bridge when he got to it. Still, what would he do without a mechanic? He didn't know if he could get to Winry.

Winry. How long had it been since he had seen her? He could barely remember. Maybe a week, but it really felt like two years. She had always been there for him. Every time he messed up. Every time that he fought the bad guys, whether it be against Scar, the Slicer Brothers, and she even took the time to go all the way to Northern Amestris to simply adjust his automail for the colder temperatures. And what did do in return? Always being a jackass to her and always making her cry tears of grief. What the fuck was the matter with him? Within a moments notice, Ed became lost in thoughts and memory, thinking of all the pleasant memories of Winry being at his right side, fixing up his right arm. He inwardly shuddered when he remembered all the times in which searing pain coursed through his body every time the nerve connections between the arm and the body were made. But that pain was worth having Winry there besides him. Her light blonde hair and blue eyes always shimmered in the sunlight, further exemplifying her beautiful face. Her jumpsuit and her headband always tried to hide her beauty, but nothing she tried could ever mask her unparalleled grace. Those eyes that beamed with confidence and hope, and those cherry lips… He imagined the warm, soft, plump lips slowly meeting together with his own…

That last thought snapped him out of his dazed state. Was he seriously just thinking about kissing Winry just now, even though he and Al were up shit creek without a paddle? In an attempt to disillusion himself of his wild fantasies, he conjured memories of rather unpleasant moments, particularly the moments in which he had to travel across the country with the two chimera and eventually Greed. Every day was a fight for survival and hiding in the shadows to avoid the wrath of Fuhrer Bradley and the other homunculus. It was only until several months later that they had managed to rest at Winry's house.

Ed took a gulp of his water as the memories of his reunion with Winry came flooding back to him. He remember arriving, and the first thing he had wanted to do was find somewhere quiet to eat his sandwich, so he figured that Winry's room was as god as any. He was so caught up in the taste of his mouth watering sandwich, that he wasn't even aware that Winry had arrived in her bedroom to change clothes, how she was about to take her shirt off and show him those perky nipples...

Ed immediately spit out his water, as his face ripened a shade of red as deep as a philosopher stone.

'What the hell is wrong with me?!', Ed thought as he put his hands on his head, trying to get control of his perverted thoughts.

"Brother, are you alright? What happened? Did you think of a bad memory or something?"

Ed slowly turned his head toward Al in an anime style, with his pupils gone and his teeth jagged sharp.

"Not at all, Al…" said Ed, looking down on his lap shortly after, too embarrassed to say anymore.

Alphonse looked at him warily for a few more moments, and then chose to simply let it go. He wasn't going to get anything out of him.

"Well brother, I think we should be heading to our dormitory. We are at cabin 8."

"Whatever…"

The air was thick with tension and nervous racket. As Edward and Alphonse entered the room and prepared to go to bed, it was then that Ed noticed the other recruits, especially one who was asking for help with this thing called the 3d maneuver gear with a blonde haired guy. Guess Ed hadn't been there to learn about that. As Ed watched on this guy begging the others for advice, Ed saw the look of fear on his face. This seemed really important to him. But why? I mean, it didn't seem like it was that big a deal; just some practicing that involved some balance. So what made him so desperate to get it right to put his dignity on the line asking everybody for help like that? Ed couldn't help but want to know.

"Hey Al. Did you happen to catch the name of that guy with the black hair?"

"Oh yea. That guy's name is Eren, and there's a boy who always is beside him. His name's Armin", replied Al, with a confused glaze appearing on his face shortly after.

"Al, I'm gonna go see who this Eren kid is and what he wants. You coming?"

"Oh sure brother."

Both climbed up the bunk beds to where this Eren guy went to, and saw he was in a conversation with two other soldiers who appeared slightly older.

"… sorry dude but there isn't any special trick to getting this this right", said the older blond haired cadet.

"Come on guys! You got to have something."

"Oh hey guys", said Ed, interrupting the conversation.

"Oh. Hey, you're the guy who ran 200 laps when you talked back to Shadis like that, right?" said Eren.

Ed looked at him with a grin. "Oh yeah."

"Damn man. I didn't think anybody had the balls to talk back to a superior like that. Oh, by the way, the names Reiner, and this here next to me is my friend Bertolt."

"The names Elric. Edward Elric, and this here is my younger brother Alphonse", said Ed.

"Hello there."

"And my name's Reiner. And this here is my good friend, Bertolt."

"Oh hey", was all Ed said.

"So Edward, you ran 200 laps. How is it that you aren't completely worn out? I figure anybody would have to have been dog tired after running nearly 8 hours."

Edward turned to see the one who asked him to be another blonde haired boy with them. He appeared to be about as tall as he and Al were, with a round, somewhat feminine face, his blonde haircut in the style of a bob, and a slightly upturned nose. He appeared to be smarter then he let on. I mean, he had already guessed that something wasn't quite normal about him with the way he was able to run a third of the day and still have enough energy to move around, so he must be smarter than the others.

"Well, I had a lot of training before I got to this camp", was Ed's response.

It was then that Bertolt finally spoke up.

"Hey, aren't you two from Shiganshina district?"

"Yea that's right", said Armin.

"Well that means you know first hand the horrors of the titans. Why would you even think of joining the military even though you saw what they are capable of?"

"Well, I personally didn't see the atrocities the titans committed, so I don't know how bad they are, and I know that I couldn't just stand by and be a part of the failed territory retrieval operation", was Armin's reply.

Ed figured now would be as good a time to ask what exactly the titans were. He might end up looking like a complete jackass, but oh well.

"What are these titans everybody keeps talking about?"

Everyone's eyes went to him, gazing towards him in looks of confusion.

"Wait, you seriously weren't kidding when you said you didn't know what titans were earlier today?" said Eren

"I can't tell if you're extremely stupid or extremely lucky", voiced Reiner.

"So what are the titans?" spoke Al, joining into the conversation.

"Well, if you really don't know, I'll tell you ", voiced Armin.

"They first appeared over 100 years ago. Monstrous, humanoid creatures with a craving for human flesh. The raw power of these atrocious monsters outmatched a regular person's many times over. The human race was shoved to the brink of extinction almost overnight."

Edward and Alphonse listened on in complete horror. Their skin had turned ghostly pale, their mouths shut tight in petrification, and both of them held onto the bed sheets as they waited for Armin to continue.

"The humans who had been fortunate enough to survive death by the titans erected Walls Maria, Rose, and Sina, each 50 meters high, seceding behind them in frightened huddles. This was the start of a near century of unsettling peace. But 3 years ago, everything changed when two new breeds of titans appeared: the Colossal and the Armored. Both of these titans trumped the average strength of normal titans, and were able to barrel through Wall Maria as if were child's play. Unable to stop the titans from advancing, Wall Maria was abandoned and was lost to the memory of time, but not before 20% of the human race was consumed by the aberrations."

"Ever since that fateful day, me, Eren, and Mikasa have been living a rather challenging and unpleasant life, forced to be common workers and tend the land until we were old enough to join the military."

The Elrics couldn't believe what they were hearing.

Nobody said anything for a few moments, until Reiner sneered in disgust.

"Look at them. Those other cadets have no idea what it's like to experience real terror. They're here simply for the show of it, to brag about it. None of them will ever understand what it's like to see them up close."

"So you have seen the titans?" questioned Alphonse in curiosity.

"Oh yeah", said Bertolt.

"Me and Reiner were living in a small village in the area gouged in Wall Maria. Unfortunately for us, due to our lack of significance and resources, we weren't informed about the titans breaching the Shiganshina district. I remember waking up to the sound of the cattle and sheep's restless noises. At first, I thought it was nothing, but then I began to feel the sensations of vibrations increasing with every resonation. I didn't know what the hell was going on, so I opened the window, and right in front of me, a 14-meter titan stared right into my eyes. Just looking into the eyes of that monster was enough to rock me to the core. But my attention was refocused, and my only thought was, I had to get to Reiner! So running out of the house, and after barely evading the titan, I got to Reiner's house and warned him. The rest of that day was a blur, but a lot of my friends and family died that day…"

As Bertolt finished, the others noticed the tears beginning to form at the edge of his eyes as his knuckles

"It's alright Bertolt. Don't let yourself get too worked up again", said Reiner.

To everyone's surprise, Bertolt got up from his seat and began to climb down the ladders.

"Come on Eren. I have somewhere where I can help you with your gear. Are you up for it?"

Eren could do nothing but nod in approval as he too began to descend the ladders, along with Reiner and Armin.

"Hey Ed, Alphonse, are you coming?" asked Bertolt.

"No, I think we'll just call it a day," was Ed's response.

"Are you sure? You didn't even have a chance to observe how the gear works."

"I'll be fine," said Ed, waving his hand at the 4 adolescents. "You go train for whatever it is you need to train."

Bertolt shrugged his shoulders, leading Reiner, Eren, and Armin out of the dorms to prepare for tomorrows training.

As soon as Eren closed the door behind him, Ed gripped onto Al's arm. "Al, we have to go outside."

"Of course."

Ed and Alphonse stood 50 feet away from the dorms, concealing themselves form the rest of the soldiers and Shadis, just in case they wanted to snoop around to look for them. Ed was fixated on the ground as he was preparing a human transmutation circle.

"Brother, are you sure we want to do this right now?"

"How do you even know if your alchemy will work? Remember, you sacrificed your Door of Truth for me…"

"You make a good point Al, so lets find out, shall we?" Clapping his hands together as always and in the blink of an eye, blue electricity illuminated the night, encircling around Ed, extending his signature automail blade for his younger brother to see.

Alphonse's eyes widened in awe, as his shot his hands in the air, silently screaming in joy that his brother didn't have to give up his alchemy for him. Ed chuckled in amusement at his brother's reaction to the news, then returned to his work on the transmutation circle.

"Well alright, so we know that works. But do you really think it's the best idea for us to leave like this?"

Ed lifted his head up from the ground to look into his little brother's eyes. "I'm sure Al. Didn't you hear what they said? Giant humanoid monsters are consuming humans.

"But don't you think we should give the military our support?"

Ed tightened his grip on the stick; sighing at the inner turmoil he was experiencing with this decision. On one hand, the titans sounded like a very serious problem to the people of this land, but on the other hand, he found it hard to believe that a danger of this magnitude could ever occur. Giant humanoid monsters that feed on humans and nearly brought the human race to an end? Sounded to him like the plot of a bad horror story. And even if there was some truth behind what everybody was saying, he was sure that the military could handle the situation. Whatever reason Truth had for putting them in this place, Ed hadn't the foggiest idea, but all Ed knew was that he refused to be apart from the ones he cared about anymore. He had been willing to give up his alchemy in exchange for his brother, and while Truth had barely managed to keep true to that aspect of the trade, once again Edward Elric had been another plaything of that white colored bastard.

"Al…I understand that the threat here sounds serious, but we shouldn't be interfering with whatever situation this country has. We should let the military of this country solve their own problems, even if their problem is monsters feeding on humans…"

He squeezed his eyes shut as he repeats what he had just said in his mind. "And besides, if tomorrows training was as bad as today's, I doubt we'll last long, or if anybody here will be able to survive the strain on their bodies."

The young Elric brother closed his eyes to better control the raw, stirring pit of confusion spiraling within him. Unknown to each other, their thoughts mimicked each other in almost every way, but unlike Ed, one of the people he wanted to see more than anything was his dad. More than anything, Al wanted to hug his father, to know that he loved him and to remember the amazing feeling of warmth and affection that comes from a meaningful embrace. And for Al, that sole thought pushed away the doubt and worry out of the farthest reaches of his mind. "Your right, brother. Going back home is the priority, no matter what."

Ed smirked with satisfaction at his brother. "Well, here we go. Time to go back home!"

Before Al could say anything more, Ed clapped his hands together, summoning forth the aquatic blue electricity, and pressed his hands onto the transmutation circle.

1 second passed. Then two. Then five. Nothing had happened. The signature red electricity was nowhere to be seen, and no glow was emitting from the circle like it always had.

"What the hell?" His eyes furrowed in frustration at the unexplainable failure of his transmutation circle. Ed clapped his hands together once more, repeating the same process again, and again, and again, but the result remained the same.

"This doesn't make any sense! I can use alchemy. So why can't I activate a human transmutation circle!" The Fullmetal Alchemist slammed his fist into the ground, channeling all of his anger into the barrage of punches. His neck veins were throbbing, as he clenched his jaw in pure rage. What had they done wrong?!

"Brother, calm down!" Al intercepted Ed's left punch before it could reach the ground. "If the human transmutation circle doesn't work, there's nothing we can do about it. Besides, we can't afford to sacrifice anything more. I'm not going to let ourselves get put through that again." Al momentarily shuddered at the thought of being bodiless again, and this momentary fear calmed Ed down.

"I'm sorry Al. You're right. We'll figure something out."

"Will we be staying here then?"

The older alchemist shrugged his shoulders in a defeated huff. "Guess we don't really have a choice. Sure we have to train, but at least we get 3 meals a day and a place to sleep."

Exhausted by all of the new information they were going to have to process, the brothers limped back to their cabin, both unsure of what was yet to come.

* * *

 _All right, so that's the end of Chapter 3. I tried to add in some humor moments to the mix, so yeah. Although this isn't accurate to the episodes, since I haven't gotten to the big shouting match against Jean and Eren, I think its good at the moment. For those who might have noticed, I am going to be making several edits to these chapters in an attempt to improve my story, since this is my first fanfiction I've ever written. Anyway, until chapter 4!_


	4. A Maggot's Rise to Stardom

_Hey guys. Sorry it took so long for me to update. I just had a lot of schoolwork to do, and I didn't have the time to finish until the weekend. Anyway, the 4th chapter is up, and I hope you guys enjoy!_

* * *

"Get up, maggots! It's morning!"

The cadets were awoken to the sound of their instructor bellowing with his nigh-malevolent voice to prepare for their second day of hell on earth.

Moaning in distress and annoyance, the cadets were slow to get up, groggily tossing their sheets off of their bodies. Even Edward Elric, the boy who had still been able to walk around after running until sunset, was more than unwilling to drag his carcass onto the cold floor. Shadis was not pleased whatsoever, his signature scowl clearly present on his hardened face.

"Alright, how about this? Whoever isn't out of bed in 3 seconds will have outhouse duties for the rest of the week."

If any cadets were still drowsy before, they were renewed with enough energy to run until sunset at Shadis' threat.

"That's more like it! Now today, we will continue practicing with the vertical maneuver gear. Edward Elric! Front and Center!" Edward was both bewildered and alarmed when he heard the sergeant call his name. What had he done this time? Was it something he had done after finishing his punishment? He could only wonder as he quickly glided to the center of the cabin in front of Shadis.

"So Edward, you managed to still stand after that little fun run?" Shadis had to admit, he didn't believe it when he asked the other cadets how the hotheaded instigator he punished had not only managed to complete the punishment at 7:00, but that he was still able to walk after he finished. For god sakes, he had run almost 8 hours. Even the strongest, most arrogant cadets he met only finished at 11:00 at night, and they would be gasping for air shortly after. So how was it that this midget was able to brush it off like it was nothing? Shadis couldn't help but be slightly, only slightly impressed by this feat, but if 200 laps was really a stroll in the park for him, then he would have to come up with a way to humiliate him in front of the others, to prove insubordination would e met with the harshest discipline.

"Yes sir!" Ed didn't like the smirk that formed on his face. Ed was lucky enough his body was near it's physical peak, or else there would have been no way he would have survived the torment. Hell, even now he was beginning to feel the toll of the run coarse through his body, and this probably wasn't going to make it better. He was sure that he couldn't repeat this for a week. So what could the sergeant possibly be thinking of now? Ed could only imagine.

"Since I'm feeling generous today, I'll give you a chance. While you were doing your dynamic exercise, you missed the training we began with the vertical maneuver gear. If you can show me that you can last more than 10 seconds on the gear, then I'll cancel the punishment. But if you fail, you'll be on toilet duty as an addition to your punishment. So, do you accept, midget

MIDGET?! That did it. No pompous asshole was going to tell him what he and could not do, especially not this bald motherfucker!

"Sure, ill do it!"

Did they just hear him right? They had never heard of anyone ever mastering the maneuver gear on their first try. Now a starter soldier had the balls to stand up and try it just like that? The male cadets murmured to each other, but Alphonse stood their petrified. Did brother really agree to this? He had seen what this gear required. He himself had tried it yesterday, and nearly 3 seconds after, it had left him with a bruised head shortly after. The best time so far was Mikasa, who had stayed on for about 7 seconds. Brother had said he would do it for 10. A great deal of physical strength was required, and not only that, but you needed to be unmovable, both physically and emotionally. And the worst part of it was his automail. With the differing weight of his mechanic arm and leg, it would be much harder to keep balance. And what would the cadets think of mechanical body parts? Ed had been lucky enough to have his automail being covered by the gloves and thick socks he had been fortunate enough to be wearing when they had arrived to this place. What if his clothes slipped off and revealed the automail?

"Alright! Be outside in 30 minutes, because you don't want to miss a thing!"

"Brother! Are you crazy?!"

After Shadis had left, most of the cadets had begun to make their beds and change, Armin, Eren, Reiner, Bertolt, Alphonse, Connie, and the Elric brothers stood in the corner of the cabin, debating what Ed would do.

"Guys, you got to help me with this!"

"Dude, you shouldn't have agreed to do it. Wasn't too smart." Reiner, like everyone else, once baffled again by Ed's ballsiness to take on the impossible. He had managed to stay balanced on the gear for 5 seconds, which was above average or at least acceptable for the sergeant, but for a cadet who had absolutely no prior knowledge of titans and the mechanism to kill them, especially the cadet who managed to piss off the sergeant, this was going to be an impossible task.

"Hey man, are you sure you're gonna be alright?" Connie, a kid who Ed had overheard talking the day before, must have cared enough to give Ed some mode of confidence. "I mean, I've got a pretty expert hang on how this gear works. I guess it's just the magic touch, but are you sure you're gonna be able to do this?" Connie's words seemed to have knocked some of that overblown pride back into place, as Ed's devilish smirk slowly faded into a blank line.

"Hey Reiner, Bertolt, you think you could give Ed here some advice?" said Eren. Eren wasn't one to let somebody down. I mean, he knew first hand how fucking challenging this thing was to master. He was lucky enough that Reiner and Bertolt had gone out and helped him master the gear last night, but Edward had no such advice since he had turned down Bertolt's offer to go train with them, but if he had been in Ed's position, Eren wouldn't have had the strength to even get on his feet. Hopefully Reiner and Bertolt would be in as generous a mood today as they had been yesterday.

Neither Bertolt nor Reiner thought that they would have to be giving lessons 2 times in 2 days. They had heard about the event nonstop from nearly everybody they met the day after the titan attack on Shiganshina. Nearly half of the population living in the district had been prey to the titan onslaught, and neither of them had any idea of the losses Eren could have suffered from the titan breach. Pity filled both of them, and they had decided to lend him their support because of it, but with this guy, all either of them saw in Ed's eyes was an arrogant asshole who always had a bone to pick with authority, only self preservation for himself and possibly his brother, and they didn't know if Ed would really pay attention to their teachings like Eren had the night before.

"I don't know… we already lectured Eren last night about how to master the 3d gear. And that took hours. I don't even think that you'll be able to absorb any information we give in 30 minutes. Besides, we gave you the chance to come with us, but you declined the offer."

"But the biggest problem for you," said Reiner, crossing his arms in a defiant and intimidating stance, "you're too short. You'll have a tougher time mastering the gear."

"Hey who the fuck are you calling short, ass face?!" Ed practically lunged at Reiner, and would have succeeded if Al and Armin hadn't been there to hold him back again. Ed's pupils disappeared and his teeth sharpened in a comical way, as steam poured out of him as he attempted to claw out Reiner's eyes.

After 30 seconds of Al convincing him that Reiner didn't mean it and that anger wouldn't help him solve anything, Ed's mouth slowly curved from a snarl to a blank slate, his hands going down to his sides, as his rage diminished.

Edward Elric returned his steely glaze at Bertolt and Reiner, his self-assured attitude clearly evident with the way he walked towards them, but the serious and determined gaze he shot at both of them told a different story.

"Bertolt, Reiner, I know that I might come off as…. Hot headed," said Ed, momentarily clenching his teeth as he cringed at his last words.

"But I really need your help right now. So, can you give me a hand, as a fellow peer?"

Both cadets blinked in awe at the blonde soldier in front of them, somewhat shocked at Ed's unpredictable response. They felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room, and all that remained was the shallow breathing of the serious and semi-remorseful soldier standing in front of him right now.

Perhaps this soldier wasn't as arrogant and self-centered as he showed himself to be. The passion and fire that burned in his eyes while he spoke was like an inferno, swirling and encircling them as it sucked them in. It looked nearly identical similar to the gaze Eren had given them last night.

"Alright. We'll do it," said Bertolt. Reiner combed his hand through his hair, trying to handle the stress coming to him and figuring out how he would deal with another pupil.

"Yes! I owe you guys," shouted Ed. Gone was his expression of worry, and a new emotion of relief came over him.

"Sure, but lets get ready before we all get punished by the sergeant." retorted Armin. Hastily, the 6 cadets walked to their separate bunks to make everything spotless, unsure and unnerved of the wrath Shadis would unleash upon them.

30 minutes had passed, and the members of the 104th corps were standing in front of the practice area, eagerly waiting for Ed's performance. The majority of the cadets had wide eyes and arms crossed, curiosity filling the atmosphere around them with a bit of anticipation to add into the mix. Shadis was standing dead center of the training equipment. His arms were crossed behind his back, his uniform looking as sharp and menacing as ever. He smirked in triumph, completely confident in his belief that Ed wouldn't last more than half a second in the air. 'This is the price of defying authority. If he doesn't learn respect now, he'll never learn respect from anyone else or anywhere else. He would make sure that by the end of this, every single soul in this camp would learn to respect their superiors.'

Mikasa stood with Eren and Armin, spectating Ed's attempt at the maneuver gear. She had rarely ever shaken off her calm, lifeless demeanor, and today was no exception. However, she was more than aware of the palpable atmosphere of excitement surrounding her from all directions.

"So how do you think Edward is going to perform?" Mikasa hadn't paid much attention to him after yesterday's introduction, but after hearing about his brazen acceptance of trying to use the Maneuver Gear in front of everyone, she became intrigued as to how he was going to handle his first attempt at the gear.

"I think Edward has a pretty good shot at this. Reiner and Bertolt gave him the basics on how to use the training gear. He should know now how to and if he was able to run 200 laps around the camp, I think he could pull this off." While Eren's words spoke worlds of confidence, his eyes leaked out the hint of doubt lingering in his soul.

Mikasa scowled. Deep down, she wanted the blonde bold headed soldier to make it through this and prove everyone wrong. She couldn't explain it, but she just felt a kind of sympathy for him for the situation he was put in. She couldn't do anything now but witness how these events unfolded.

Ed and Al were standing near the training equipment, preparing Ed and making sure everything was in order for his performance.

Al was still rather unsure about Ed would perform. His mouth was pursed into a thin line, his hands fidgeting in nerve-racking fear for his brother's end result.

"Remember brother, you have to keep all of your clothing tucked in so nobody will notice your automail, got it?" questioned Alphonse.

"Sure thing Al." Ed blatantly stated, too deep in his thoughts to pay attention to anybody speaking to him. Ed's body was shuddering to the point the earth around him shook with it. He had never felt so nervous about anything in his life. Even his State Alchemist exam didn't terrify him like the way this challenge was. What was the matter with him? While the idea of going through feces for a week didn't sound like a pleasant way to spend his free time, this wasn't extreme

"Brother! You're up!"

Ed's head shot up, only to see the stares of around 100 soldiers pointed right at him, reeling with anticipation.

"Oh right sorry." Ed nervously chuckled, slowly striding to the center of the platform. With his hands trembling with dread, he hooked the belt lying on the ground to his waist, latching it to the cords present beside him.

Shadis' smirk widened at the sight of this vigilantes unsure facial expression. Finally, he was going to show all these cadets what it meant to respect authority, and no cadet would ever form the courage to try and defy him again.

"Lets see what you can do, pipsqueak!"

Ed looked fixedly at Shadis as he was being hoisted up into the air by the pulley system. Whatever form of nervousness that was present evaporated in an instant. He was tired of it. He was tired of getting looked down upon by every member of authority he ran into. Like they were better than him. They had no idea the shit he had been through to get this far, the sacrifices and struggles he and Alphonse had to get through to get their bodies back, to save Amestris from certain doom. Who was this guy to humiliate him? No. He wasn't going to be looked down upon by anybody anymore.

Everyone's mouth was held agape as Edward Elric was doing what some had thought was impossible. He was perfectly balanced on the 3d maneuver gear.

Ed was having a more challenging time than they would have thought. He kept repeating to himself: stay balanced, distribute the weight of the automail, keep a strong frame of mind, and don't lean forward or backward. Barely able to keep himself centered, he began to count the seconds passing in his head.

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…

Yes! The crowds roared in excitement as they watched Ed perfectly master the gear. The screams of the cadets were deafening. Even Shadis' eyes were permeated with a sense of slight surprise. Shadis could barely believe it. His arms drooped down from his back to his sides, clenching into fists. His brows furrowed in anger, and he cringed his nose in anger, his confident smile nowhere to be seen. It wasn't just Ed's surprising ability that upset him: the cheers of the soldiers, the smiles of approval, and the way Ed lifted his chin up at Shadis. Shadis ran his hand through his imaginary hair. Despite seething with rage, despite all of the crap he wanted to scream at Edward Elric simply because he could, despite all the frustration of his inability to deal with this cadet's rebellious attitude, he was actually impressed. Edward Elric had taken everything he had thrown at him and excelled, making it appear like child's play. Now he was just two seconds away.

But just as the resonance of applause echoed through the air and rose as each second pass, the applause went silent, and everyone watched Ed fall head first onto the ground.

Bertolt and Reiner mouths dropped down to the floor. What had Ed done wrong? They had told him everything he needed to know and more. He had nigh perfect form, and his face told them that he was determined to see this through to the end. Could it have been his balance? Both were confused when Ed had placed more weight on his left side than his right. That must have been the reason: an uneven distribution in balance. Still, if that were really the case, Ed should have fallen over within the first 3 seconds he was put into the air. So what was it? Little did they know that was what was on the minds of Alphonse, Armin, Eren, Mikasa, and even Shadis.

Shortly after Ed fell down onto the floor, he let out a panicked moan, checking all parts of his clothing to make sure no automail had been revealed to anyone. Thankfully, his tucked clothing hadn't been shaken loose. He set his eyes to Shadis, quickly realizing he had pissed him off big time.

"Wait! Please, let me do it again!" begged Ed. Shadis slowly marched up to him, never averting his gaze from Edward. Shadis stopped just 2 feet away from the older Elric brother. He stole a glance at Ed's belt. Could it be perhaps…

"Fogna, exchange belts with Edward at once." Fogna, one of the soldiers who pulled the lever to raise Edward, stepped a few steps back at his commander's words.

"Yes sir!" Mikasa, Alphonse, Armin, Bertolt, and Reiner looked at each other in confusion. What could the belt have to do with Ed's performance?

It took about 20 seconds for the murmuring to die down, and another 20 seconds for Edward to change belts and hook onto the cords. Edward was hoisted back in the air, worried that he would fail again and still wrapping his head around why he was forced to trade belts. But something felt odd, but odd in a good sense. He suddenly felt a much greater degree of control that he had in his previous attempt. What was different now?

"Your equipment was defective", said Shadis, practically reading Ed's thoughts. "Looks like given functional gear, you aren't the pathetic maggot I thought you were. Your belt had a broken clasp that the supply team didn't notice. Looks like I'm busting some heads in." Many cadets stared at each other. Just when they thought this guy couldn't get more awesome, they just found out he was actually able to stay balanced on defective gear. Edward Elric was truly a badass in the eyes of practically all the soldiers.

Ed leaned forward with wide eyes "Wait, so I made the cut? I don't have to do the run or clean the outhouses?",

Shadis looked at him and nodded. "You're good. Not too bad, but that's probably just beginners luck." Ed barely could contain the laugh of joy that was about to escape his lips, but everybody around him could obviously tell he was the happiest guy in the camp at that moment.

Two suspenseful seconds of silence, and then the tumult broke around Ed as the screams and the cheers and the laughs of the soldiers came through the air. The dazzle of the sunrise shined onto Ed as the applause of his peer's deafened Ed's eardrums. Everybody had expected the worse out of this newbie, and each one of them secretly expected him to fall prey to the mercy of Commander Shadis, but not a single soul had predicted his performance would succeed to the extremity as it had at that moment.

Triumphant with his victory, Ed did nothing to stop the plethora of praise coming from the soldiers. Looking to the crowd, he set his attention on Reiner and Bertolt. Both soldiers were raising their hands together, and threw their fists in the air, more than proud of what Ed had accomplished, and both honored to call Ed their friend.

* * *

 _Ok a change of pace here. I apologize for those who are unpleased with my constant changing of the story, but I'm simply making changes that are more realistic and just make more sense to the story. Thanks for the people who have stayed hooked on the story. I really appreciate all the support, and I just want to let you know I'm trying to give you guys the best I can. Until Chapter 5!_


	5. Battle of the Prodigies

The day had gone pretty quickly soon after Ed's Vertical Maneuver Gear attempt.

Shortly afer Ed had mastered the gear and the cadets had finally backed off from Ed, Shadis resumed testing. Eren was the next cadet that was up for the training, since he had failed rather miserably the day before. Like Ed, Eren had been able to perfect the gear on his first try, getting a small applause from the crowd. Alphonse was able to maintain a proper balance as well with ease, filling the older Elric brother with pride. Ed honestly couldn't believe how long it took some of the cadets to maintain a proper balance.

During the training, Ed took careful noting of the best soldiers who were able to perform just as well as he had. Reiner and Bertolt had performed impressively, just as he had expected. Connie, Sasha, and a brown haired kid apparently named Jean had also done a rather good job, but not came even close to the level that Mikasa had demonstrated. Her technique was flawless, and the rate at which she was able to stay afloat was incredible, clearly exceeding Ed's own abilities, if not anybody's abilities at the gear so far.

After the last cadet had finished his turn on the gear, Shadis instructed everyone to go to the mess hall for Finally, they could go to the mess hall and eat their painful sorrow of training away with food.

"You did awesome Ed!" Ed and Al were walking with Eren, Armin, Bertolt, Reiner, Connie, and Mikasa as they made their way to the mess hall.

"Oh thanks… But I was garbage compared to your sister Mikasa. How were you able to do it so well?" asked Ed.

"I just… followed my instincts." Mikasa simply stared at Ed with a blank face. Now that Ed had the time to socialize with the other soldiers, he began to take not only the physical abilities of the soldiers, but the personalities of each of them as well. And he was not expecting anybody like Mikasa. Her black, wavy hair flowed like silk in the wind, her face void of any imperfections. She was extremely sullen, only speaking when somebody was directly talking to her, and even then, she appeared to only give one or two word answers. But the defining trait that Ed took in was her eyes. Eyes that said that she had nothing left to live for, nothing that kept her on this world, as if she was only living simply because she had nowhere else to go, as if she could be anywhere and barely take notice. Ed felt he recognized that face before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Edward, I have a question for you"

Armin had chipped in after staying silent for a few minutes, but the lingering curiosity building up with Ed finally caught up to him. He had to know what Ed was hiding. He couldn't help but feel that something was off about him. Armin knew he had heard something metal hit the ground the night before right when Ed jumped off of the bed. And now today, Ed had placed more weight on his left leg and right arm, which should have made him unable to keep a steady foothold in the air. He himself had been mimicked the postures, resulting in failure. Based on human body structure, the bone and muscle density should be equal throughout your entire body. This dillemia was racking his brain in the worst of ways. What was Edward Elric hiding?

Ed looked back at Al with an uneasy stare. Ed shuddered internally at the tone in Armin's voice just now.

"Yea?"

"How was it possible for you to keep a stable balance with the Vertical Maneuver Gear when you put more weight on your left leg and right arm?"

"Oh yeah…" chimed in Reiner. "What was the deal with that?"

Sweat bullets were dripping down Ed's face ad his face was as pale as a ghost. What the hell could he come up with? He needed something to get him out of there and FAST.

"Heheheheheh. You know, it's just a new technique I was working on that allowed for different weight distribution…" said Ed, slowly speaking more softly as he uttered this statement.

"Hey Al! I'm starving! Let's hurry to the mess hall, am I right?" Al, understanding that Ed didn't have anything better to come up with, sprinted after his brother in a heat of momentary relief, leaving everyone behind them dazed at the sudden outburst.

"Wait up guys!" yelled Armin, following suit to Eren and sprinting for them as well, more determined tan ever to find out exactly what he was hiding.

Ed had thought his popularity with all that had happened today would have just passed as soon as the tests had resumed, but he could not have been more wrong. As soon as Ed had gotten his food, he was swarmed by dozens of cadets, all sitting next to him, all wanting to know the same thing: how he had perfected the gear.

"Wait, so how did you do it?!"

"Did you get some sort of special training?!"

"Can you teach me how to do that?!"

Edward was gloating in satisfaction as he received this newfound praise. Finally, people understood that he wasn't a joke: that he actually knew what he was doing. Although he had to admit, he didn't have too many interactions with people of his age. With the exception of Ling, Al, and Winry, he had met nobody of the same age as him. Resemebool wasn't exactly next to the urban city, and along with that, he was the youngest enlisted state alchemist, and searching for a philosopher's stone didn't help things. Maybe with this group, he might actually get some respect around here.

"Well, that's what you get when dealing with Edward Elric."

"Did you see Shadis' face? It was hilarious!"

"Yea well, I guess that's just what I do."

"All cadets report to the training area for hand to hand combat lessons!"

Shadis' voice resonated through the room and the entire camp, and the tension of anger disassparated through most of the cadets. The furrows on Alphonse, Eren's and Edwards eyes somewhat diminished, as they all knew nothing good would come out of further confrontation, and even if it did, they didn't have enough time to do anything about it.

"Well, sorry guys, but I can't tell you my secrets." A chorus of aws and disappointed sighs resonated through the room as the disheartened students made their way out to the training area.

Ed's walked with a puffed up chest and his chin held high. Things just keep getting better and better. Not only was he able to master the maneuver gear on his first try by a master stroke of luck, but now he would be able to show off his fighting skills.

"Al, this is great!"

"Yes brother!"

"We can actually get some good training in, and the best part is, this will give you an opportunity to readjust your fighting style."

Al turned his head to his brother with a confused look. "What do you mean brother?"

"What do you mean 'What do I mean?' You've spent the last 3 years in a suit of armor, fighting opponents that were twice as small as you with no limits to your endurance."

"Oh..." This realization stuck a nerve, something that did not often occur with the younger Elric brother. Ed immediately noticed the saddened look on his brother's face and stopped him dead in his tracks. "Al, don't worry. I'm here for you, and we'll get your form readjusted in no time flat." The compassion his brother was giving him reignited his joyous attitude, and Al gave him a smile that was so bright it dazzled the room around him. "Ok brother."

All the cadets were lining up across the dusty field, emotionally preparing for their hand-to-hand training. The drill sergeant came in, as commanding as ever, secretly interested to see the fighting capabilities of the cadets.

"Alright listen up, maggots! Today, you will be practicing your hand-to-hand combat! As soldiers, you must be ready for anything, whether it is fighting titans, or fighting thugs in the inner cities, nothing should get the best of you. Now, gather yourself in pairs and will practice a scenario in which one of you will be a rogue with a knife and the other will attempt to stop you dead in your tracks, you got it? Begin!"

Grinning with delight, Edward and Alphonse were in a heated combat session. Although he refused to admit it, Al was having a rather difficult time keeping up with his brothers' movements, just barely being able to avoid his precise punches and kicks. The corners of Ed's mouth were tugging into a huge smile, knowing that he actually had a much higher chance of defeating his once nigh unstoppable brother.

Realizing how easily Ed was outmaneuvering him, Alphonse sprinted towards Ed in an attempt to catch him off guard, only to end up face first in the dust, collapsing by his side.

Ed's brow furrowed in concern. "Hey are you alright little brother?" The brother blinked in worry before letting out a short bark of laughter. "Looks like you won't be able to win against me so easily now anymore huh?" Al raised his shoulders and hands in defeat, grinning at the fact that he no longer had his suit of armor as a body. "No kidding brother. Hey brother, look over there."

Ed looked over his shoulder to see Eren Yaeger being flipped onto the ground as if he were a rag doll by none other than Annie Leonheart. Ed knew very little about her other than the fact she was a little bit shorter than he was and she was exceptionally skilled with the maneuver gear, and if she was experienced in hand to hand combat, then she might pique his amusement.

"Come on Al. Let's see what's going on over here."

"So Reiner, are you ready to be a man and take me on?" Annie, clearly upset at being interrupted by Eren and Reiner, wasn't in any mood to be pushed around.

"Uh not quite." Reiner pants were about to be soiled. He couldn't go through with fighting Annie. For god sake, he was about 10 centimeters taller than Eren, and he got his ass kicked just as badly as Eren did just now. What chance did he have against her?

"Reiner, don't tell me that you can't take on a shorty like her," chimed in Ed. Reiner clearly had the advantage against Annie, with a 30-centimeter height difference, and a weight difference of around 20 kilograms, Annie would have to be a prodigy in order to be able to beat Reiner.

Shit. Sweat bullets began to form at the end of his face, as black lines appeared on the ends of his eyes, his mouth quivering in fear. Reiner had no choice. His pride was on the line.

"Yea. Guess you're right. Besides, a soldier can't afford to back down anyway. So get ready because here I…" Reiner was head first on the ground before he even had time to finish. Ed's mouth was agape. Was this serious? Had Reiner really just been pummeled like an amateur fighter? My god.

"Hey. Who taught you how to fight like that?" She glanced back in boredom, only to see the infamous Edward Elric and his little brother Al staring at her like she was some sort of freak of nature. "My father did. But does it really matter?" Ed's eyes widened at her remark. "You just panted my friend's face first into the ground. That's not something I take kindly to." In response, Annie simply huffed in boredom.

"Whatever…"

"Why you!" A hand grabbing onto his shoulder stopped his motion. "Brother. You're in no condition to fight after what happened yesterday. Let it go."

Ed was about to give an angry retort, but the words died at his lips. Calming himself down, Ed stared into his brother's eyes with understanding. "Maybe so Al, but I have to know what she's made of." Brushing off his shoulder, Ed walked up to Annie, shooting a look of fire in her eyes that were like daggers piercing into her.

"Lets go Annie." Sighing in annoyance, Annie repositioned into her signature stance, with her hands lifted into fists, ready to intercept any blows this blonde kid would give. Ed 's golden eyes pierced into her ultramarine eyes, as these two fighting prodigies prepared for battle.

Making the first move, Ed darted towards Annie, swinging his left arm at her head.

Preparing her signature techniques, Annie put her hand on his chest, wrapping her left leg around his and prepared to use his own weight against him. But something felt wrong. His left leg felt much heavier than normal, almost as if it had extra weight on it. She glanced at Ed, only to find him smirking at her. "Nice try, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve too." Unlooping himself from her grasp, he pushed her away from his proximity and landed a hard kick to her abdomen. Wincing in pain, she looked at Ed with a look of intensity. How had he known her attack so easily, and more importantly, how was it that she wasn't able to finish it? "Huh. You're not bad, compared to these others, but still, you're fighting a losing battle."

"Is that so huh? Well then, try this on for size." Ed lunged forward at Annie once more, delivering a barrage of jabs, to which she was barely able to avoid. Annie lunged back, sweeping at his feet from under him. Caught off guard, Ed began to lose balance, but just as he was falling to the ground, his foot aimed high for her head, to which it missed, but not by much. Using his hands, Ed jumped off the ground with a back flip, reinvigorated with fighting spirit. Damn. She wasn't making this easy. He hadn't often fought hand to hand with someone of a smaller stature than him, much less someone of his own age.

Seeing that Ed was momentarily distracted, Annie raced forward, attempting to plant her right elbow in his chest. She wasn't playing games anymore. This was her going all out. Nobody would get the best of her in hand-to-hand combat. Ed glanced up at Annie advancing, and quickly intercepted her elbow with his metal hand.

"Ah!" Annie felt a jolt of pain run through her body at contact with Ed's hand. Once again, it felt as if his hand were much more dense or considerably heavier than that of others. What the hell was this guy made of, metal? Using her momentary pain as an opportunity to strike, Ed wrapped his leg around hers, lifting her off the ground and stuck her face in the dust.

"And that's what you get when you're dealing with Edward Elric!" Eren, Reiner, and Al crowded around him, patting him on the back, remarking on how much of a badass he was, saying how he was like a martial arts master. And Ed was loving every second of it. "Guys guys. It was nothing really. Just a fist to fist brawl," said Ed, as he put his hands on his hips and raised his chin in triumph.

Annie slowly picked herself up from the ground, her scowl more present than ever. Something was different about him. If he were any normal opponent, he should have been knocked down to begin with. So what made him be able to withstand so many of her attacks? She had to dwell on this. "Whatever Ed. Next time though, you'll be the one on the ground, shorty." At that word, steam poured out of Ed, as fire lit around him, his eyes turning into knives, his fists clenching in frustration.

"Shorty?! Could a shorty have beaten you so easily! I'm taller than you, jerk! I'll break off your feet and stick em on your head!" Ed's frustrated ramblings went over Annie's head as she walked off as if nothing had ever happened.

* * *

"Hey Ed."

"Man Ed, you really kicked ass today."

Ed and the others were sitting together at the dinner table; basking in the glory of defeat over the several obstacles they had faced the past few days. "Teacher really did lecture us well, huh brother?" Ed nodded in agreement. "She really did. I wonder how she's doing right now…" At the mention of her, Ed instantly sobered. Teacher. What was she doing right now? Did she even know where they were? He and Al didn't even know where they were. He could only hope that her and everybody else were doing all right without them and rebuilding central.

"Wait, you had a teacher?" asked Eren. "Oh yes. Our teacher was really strict, but she was also really caring, in her own way", replied Alphonse. "But sometimes, that line was hard to determine. For the first part of our training, she put us on an island for one month." Everyone around them stared at the Elric brothers, learning a little more about the insane things both had done in their lives. "You guys must have been through a lot", said Marco. Ed smirked, nodding, and looked up at the ceiling, reminiscing about the days in which they underwent their alchemic training. It really did feel like it was just yesterday.

* * *

 _"The basis of transmutation is the power of the circle."_

 _The morning sun was shining on the meat store, as Izumi Curtis was lecturing her two young but determined students, Edward and Alphonse Elric. She had felt pity for them due to the loss of their father, and since she didn't have too much to do, had decided to make them their pupils. But by no circumstance did that mean her training regiments were going to be easy. Oh, these two would be certain of that. So after a month of solitude and deep thinking, the Elric brothers had managed to understand the meaning 'One is all, and All is One', their training resumed and consisted of the basics of alchemy and hand to hand combat._

 _"This denotes the circulation of energy in order to call upon this energy, one must draw a structural matrix over the circle." As teacher continued to lecture, the two youngsters constantly attempted to attack her, honing their fighting skills unknowingly while doing so. Edward attempted to land a punch straight at teacher's torso, but instead was swatted away as usual. Al continued the barrage by jumping up, rotating his torso to increase the power of his left kick, only to be intercepted and spun around like a spinning top. "Its best if you experience this circulation of power for yourself" Crying anime tears, Ed charged toward Izumi, failing to injure her like always._

 _"Enough of this. Continue to practice your morning lessons until lunch is ready." Bowing at defeat, Al drew a transmutation circle on the ground, reciting the basics of alchemy while doing so._

 _"Man, at this rate, we're going to through our backs out, right Al?" Both continued to go over the lesson planning, drawing different types of transmutation circles into the ground and defining what each were for._

 _"Hey Al. For the heck of it, why not have a little sparing match?" Ed stood up, positioning himself into a fighting stance. Al followed suit, both unaware that Izumi was glancing out the window, her eyes flooding with hope and blossoming love for these Elric brothers._

* * *

"Ed?"

Snapping back into reality, he noted that everyone around him had been staring at him, wondering what he was thinking about.

"But hey, your teacher is a pushover compared to what Shadis has done to us", said Connie. Laughter erupted around the group as all of them continued to discuss the horrors that Sergeant Shadis had put them through.

* * *

The night was cold, and the person was running quickly through the forests as the cool breeze hit them and the moon shined, illuminating the way to a hidden cave. The being entered the cave, cautious of being followed. After confirming nobody had been following him, the person entered the dark tunnel. Soon after, the creature reached the end of the tunnel, and the being entered an extremely grandiose cave, with white tiles surrounding the floor, and black rock formations forming the adjacent walls. In the center of the room, a figure in black robes sat in a luxurious throne.

"What new have you brought me, servant?"

"Two of the cadets of the 104th training corps, known as Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric. There is something odd about them. One of them in particular, the one known as Edward Elric, has demonstrated fighting prowess and physical abilities that far surpass any soldiers who have enlisted thus far."

"And what use would this be to me?"

Gulping in fear, the servant continued. "The night before, I saw them preparing a transmutation circle in the ground, and both of the soldiers appeared to have the ability to use alchemy." The master stood up in surprise at this sudden statement. A human who knew of alchemy? There was no possible way.

"I see… Continue to observe these two cadets. Find out how much they know about alchemy, and see what the limits of the abilities are."

"Yes master." The servant nodded and scurried away, taking one last look at his master before returning to his post.

"So, humans who know of the ways of alchemy. These two will certainly be…interesting."

* * *

 _The 5th chapter is up. Since I posted it late, I made sure to add more juicy details and the introduction of a villain. Until Chapter 6! Reviews would be helpful._


	6. Tears of Pain

_Here is the 6th chapter! To my readers, I really am sorry for the 2-week wait for the people who were really waiting for the next chapter. I would like to give a huge shout out to: GoldenLombaxGirl, Rini x Ryo, and the other reviewers. I really appreciate the positive input, and Rini, you really inspired me to continue this fanfiction with your kind comments. So, without further adieu, here is Chapter 6!_

* * *

"This is such bullshit."

The teenagers were herding together as they were entering the lodge. All of them were groaning in frustration as each of them slowly grudged towards the separate classrooms.

"Why do we have to be lectured on the titans?" said Connie. "All we need to know is that they're monsters and we can kill them with cannons."

"Shows how much you know", retorted Reiner. "I bet you don't even know how tall they can be."

"Whatever." The group of friends sat in the front row, as the rest of the cadets begrudgingly stumbled to their seats, waiting for the lesson plan to be over. Ed and Al however, were secretly thirsting and excited for this lecture. Both knew that there was no access to the library, so searching information about the titans would be impossible, and their friends were as idiotic with information on titans as Colonel Mustang was at noticing Hawkeye's affection for him. Now that they were going to be given a lesson plan on titans, both could get an even better idea on what they would be fighting.

The room fell silent as the teacher entered the room. The teacher was a male soldier, who appeared to be in his late 50's or early 60's. He wore light brown khaki pants and a simple dress shirt with the first button undone. His gray hair was neatly combed, and he wore glasses as he prepared to introduce himself to the class.

"Hello class. As you may of may not know, I am here today to lecture you on the basics of titans. I will not tolerate any misbehavior of any kind, and if you appear to be daydreaming, I will not hesitate to embarrass you in front of your peers. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir", said the class in a monotonous tone.

"Very well. Now, who can give me the basics of what a titan is?" 6 hands shot up in response. "Yes, you young man, with the long blonde hair." Armin stood up, rather flustered at his turn in the spotlight. "Well, titans are humanoid creatures who appeared 100 years ago and consume humans." The teacher chuckled in amusement and disappointment at his response. "Thank you for telling me the information that a 5 year old could tell me." Most of the class snickered and chuckled, but Eren, Edward, and Alphonse stared at him with sympathy, knowing that everybody else knew just as little as he did about the titan's and their physiology. After a few seconds, the teacher raised his hand to silence the class, refocusing the cadet's attention to the teacher.

"For people like this young man who do not know, yes, titans are humanoid creatures who will feat on humans. What little documents we have recovered tell us nothing about the titan's origins. Nearly everything we know about them is obscure, but thanks to the information the Scout Regiment has given us, we have obtained some information about their physiology. Now, whether or not titans possess human level intelligence is debatable, and there have been no reports of high level communication between them." A hand rose once again in the crowd of cadets. "Yes?"

"Have their been any titans captured for examination?" asked Al, curiosity brimming with his tone of voice.

"No. So far, the Scout Regiment has been unable to successfully capture a titan alive. Nonetheless, we have learned that titans are unlike many if not all other organic life, as they do not possess any reproductive organs, it is unclear to us how they reproduce. Apart from this, the titan's resemble human males in nearly every aspect of their build. We also know that their body temperatures are much higher than human body temperature, and oddly enough, their appetite seems completely focused on human beings. However, given the fact that titans have not breached the outer walls for 100 years, it has been surmised that titans do not require daily nourishment, and as such, they consume humans for sport. Let me repeat, titans do act on hunger, but only for the thrill of the kill."

Many soldiers gave uneasy glances at each other, others were petrified, and some put their hands on their head in horror.

"The source of energy that these horrific creatures use remains unknown to us. As you know, mankind has possessed cannon technology for centuries now, but cannons alone were unable to defeat the titans. The titans have the ability of varied regeneration, and even if their head is blown off, a titan will regenerate it within 10 seconds or 5 minutes."

Murmuring erupted within the horde of cadets. "As if their size and strength wasn't bad enough." "Is he for real?" As the string of anxiety and quiet commentary continued, Alphonse rose up from his chair. "So are you saying that these titans are immortal?"

"No I am not." The teacher turned around, drawing an outline of a titan on the black board. "There is only one known way to ensure a titan's death." HE then circled the back of the human neck. "If a titan receives heavy damage to the nape of the neck, a titan will not regenerate. That is where as some of you might have guessed, is where you flesh searing blades come in, and why you have been training with your 3d maneuver gear."

Hope shined through the eyes of Eren Yaegar. So there's a way to actually beat these abominations. Surprisingly though, he turned to his right to see the corners of Ed's mouth changing to a grimace. A million thoughts were racing through Ed's mind. Giant humanoid monsters? No reproductive organs? Regeneration Abilities? Nigh- Immortality? It couldn't be… "Sir, this might seem a little bit odd, but have any of your scouts ever recorded a red glowing emanating from the titans?"

The teacher gazed at this student in confusion. "What do you mean, young man?"

"Well, have their ever been any recordings of like a red stone or a red light appearing from the chest of the titans?"

Everyone gave him a dazed look. Where the hell did that come from?

"That question has never come up before. No, so far the Scout Regiment has found no such thing in the body of the titans. Although on the other hand, we have never had the chance to dissect a titan since no specimens have ever been captured. Why ask this?"

"Oh, just for the heck of it, since I heard rumors hear and their." Ed nervously chuckled, as dots appeared around him in anime style, his eyes turning into tiny dots, accompanied with a neutral face. Seeing as how he had made enough of a fool of himself already, he seated himself back down, greatly uncomfortable with the copious amount of stares he was receiving.

The professor shrugged, continuing on with the lesson plan. "Alright students. Get out your notebooks and prepare to take notes on the most effective techniques to attack a titan's weak spot."

As the man told the students to take out their notebooks to jot down the information, Even leaned over to Ed with exuberant energy pouring out of him. "We finally know how to beat these things, and now we can take the fight to the titans, right Ed?" Turning his head to Eren, smirk of approval. "Sure, Eren." Within barely a moments notice, Edward's attention diverted from Eren to Al, the confident smirk disintegrating into a void of confusion and concern with the little but crucial information they had just learned. "Al, we need to talk."

Ed's warm breath tingled on Al's ghostly pale skin. Al simply nodded in understanding, and the two brothers uneasily returned their attention to the teacher in front of them. The teenagers were slow to take prepare taking notes, excluding the Eren and Armin. Even Edward and Alphonse momentarily forgot about their rising disdain with their doubts and concerns, and were extremely voracious to absorb any information they could about this species they had never heard a whisper of.

Ed collapsed in his rickety yet comforting bed, still recovering from his nigh suicidal run 2 days before and miraculous performance the day before. And as if this wasn't enough, he still had to process all of the new information they had learned about these titans. The younger Elric brother followed suit, removing his shoes with the exhaustion of the day weighing down his entire body, barely allowing him to climb up the splinter covered ladders to his top bunk. After several seconds of accustoming to his mattress, he cleared his throat, and stated, "Brother, you said we needed to talk?"

Ed's fatigue continued to break away at him, the frigid temperature of their cabins constricting his muscles and sending nerve-racking shivers all through his body. With the sluggish speed of a sloth, Ed lazily climbed down the ladder to accompany his younger brother on the top bunk.

"Yea I did. Al, there has to be some correlation."

"What are you talking about, brother?"

"With these titans, Al! I mean thing about it! Enhanced strength, augmented speed, humanoid monsters towering over humans, regeneration? Don't you see the connection?" The realization hit Al like when he found out about his fathers past. "You don't think that these titans have some sort of connection with homunculus, do you?" The frigid atmosphere further intensified as the gravity of their situation dired and the realization of tis possibility sank in Alphonse's mind.

"Brother, you couldn't possibly mean that these titans are homunculus, do you?" Ed stared back into his bother's eyes with a somber demeanor. "I think it's a high possibility, yes." Trembling with fear, the young brother put his palms on his forehead, crawling into a feeble ball, sinking his head in defeat on the creaky mattress. The eyes of hope and wonder were gone, replaced with the eyes of terror and desperation.

"Al! Look at me!" Ed grabbed Al by the shoulders with such speed and ferocity that it would make Sloth jealous. "It is going to be alright. These things are pushovers compared to the homunculus we've had to deal with. There isn't anything your big brother can't overcome."

"Of course, brother."

The two sat in silence, the echoes and laughter of their peers filling their ears. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Alphonse spoke up.

"Do you think everyone is ok back home?"

"I'm sure they're rebuilding the capital and reorganizing everything back at Central."

"Hey brother. If we're lucky enough, Mustang will become the next Fuhrer."

"Sure… He'll have to sort out all of the panties in his home before he can sort out the problems in Amestris."

The two brothers pressed their hands to their mouths to suppress their laughter, yet the pressure building up in their lungs was too much to hold, and the duo burst out in an unrelenting laughter.

"What are you two pansies giggling about?"

Armin and Eren had overheard this joyous burst of laughter, deciding to intervene since neither of them had anything better to do at the moment.

"Oh, just thinking back to some old friends…"

"Oh yeah… I can understand that", said Eren.

"So anyway, Ed, you never answered in class, why did you ask such a random question?" questioned Armin.

"Armin, I already said in the session, I had heard from some people about rumors of a red glow coming from the titans. Really, that's all I wanted to confirm…"

"But Ed, that sounds like the most random and unrelated question I have ever heard about a titan, and I never heard of any rumor like that."

"Not every rumor goes around every part of the country…"

"But Ed…"

"Armin! Just drop it, ok? It was just a stupid question to ask at the time, alright?"

Unsatisfied with his answer, Armin waved his hand in dismissal and grunted in irritated acceptance, knowing he wouldn't get any more out of him for the time being.

"Anyway, do you think perhaps that there is anyplace else to gather information on titans, like maybe a library or something?" questioned Alphonse.

"Yea, that would be really helpful at the moment. Do either of you know if there is a library in the area?"

"Ever since the fall of Shiganshina five years back, books have been extremely rare and very valuable, so many if not all of the essential books have been moved to the Royal Capital."

"So what and where is the Royal Capital exactly?" asked Edward.

"The Royal Capital is in the center of Wall Sheena. Remember, humanity is guarded by three walls: Wall Maria, the outermost wall, Wall Rose, the 2nd wall guarding the humans, and finally, Wall Shenna, the innermost wall that guards the King."

"So how would one get access to the library in the Royal Capital?"

Armin laughed how ludicrous Ed's question was. "Ed, do you know how hard it is to even get into the Royal Capital? That library houses some of the most primeval works of literature, dating back to even before the titans arrived. Only the military police guard the inner wall, and even they have almost no access to the Library of the Capital. The only way for people like us to even get a glimpse of the vast wealth of knowledge accumulated in their would be if we got an appeal from one of the highest ranking commanders who are each in charge of the 4 regions of the walls."

Yes! Finally, there seemed to be a place that could hold the answers they have been searching so desperately for. Maybe, just maybe, he could find the answers to what these titans were.

"Armin, you seem to know a lot about the inner workings of the land. How did you learn all this information?" said Ed, as he was repositioning himself in a more relaxing position of crossing his legs.

"Well, Armin's father was 2nd in command of the Garrison Regiment," said Eren, interrupting Armin. "Thanks to his high-ranking position, he was able to learn many things about the inner working of the Royal Capital, and he ardently shared this information with me. After a while, I too became enthralled with the world around me, both inside the walls and out."

"Well, good for you, Armin." said Al.

"Thanks."

"So do you ever see your father?" said Edward.

Armin's eyes instantly darkened to voids of black. "No… Me, my parents, and my grandfather were living in Shiganshina, so we were there for when the titans invaded the district, and they…" Armin didn't even finish his sentence before his eyes began to water. Unwilling to embarrass himself with his weakness, he turned his head so they would not see tears of grief falling from his eyes, as Eren laid a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to soothe his friend's pain.

So he's lost someone close to him, the Elric brothers thought. The two brothers looked at each other with newfound pity and empathy for their friend.

"I'm so sorry, Armin." said Alphonse.

"It's alright."

"Those titans are going to pay for what they did…" Eren briskly clenched his fists, as his anger and thirst for revenge bubbled up to the surface once more. No way he wasn't going to kill the fucking monsters that put them through this living nightmare.

"Well guys, it's getting late. I think we should be going to bed."

The three cadets nodded in agreement, and each returned to their bunk beds, getting all the sleep they could for the day ahead of them.

"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?" Ed voiced his last internal thought before covering his body with blankets and dozing off into a much-needed slumber.

Sleep was not coming for the Fullmetal Alchemist. The visions that plagued his mind caused him to toss and turn in agony.

"No… my friends… my family."

What is this? What the hell is going on? Ed slowly opened his eyes to the area around him. He was in the Rockbell house, laying in the bed he had slept in the last time he had come here for automail repairs. The moon shone through his window, illuminating his features in the darkness of the night.

"I'm so sorry Winry, but Edward and Alphonse haven't been seen in 3 days."

The voices of his teacher and the heart wrenching sobs of Winry woke Ed up from his momentary daze. "Teacher! Winry! Yes! I don't know how, but I'm back, and you are not going to believe what I have to tell you…" Ed's voice faltered when he opened the door to see the faces of so many people he knew. Pinako, Teacher, Sig, Ling, Lan Fan, May, Roy, Winry, Lieutenant Armstrong, even Hohenheim were gathered together. But what didn't make any sense was the fact that nobody even gave him so much as a glance when he came out the door.

"Guys! It's me! Come on guys, seriously, this isn't funny." Still, nobody even acknowledged his existence. In a fit of childish rage, he marched over to Winry, demanding he be acknowledged.

"Guys, stop being a bunch of…." The last word didn't even escape his lips, as he placed his hand on Winry's shoulder, only to have his hand go completely through Winry's body. What? Am I dead? No, this has to be some sort of illusion, or perhaps a vision made by Truth? Edward didn't have time to think about it, as he turned his attention to the tears pouring out of Winry's eyes. He had never seen her so completely destroyed. Her hair was covering about half of her face in a messed up shamble of locks. Her arms hanged at her sides in defeat, her black t-shirt drenched with her fallen droplets of tears. The tears poured on down her stunning face, barely recognizable as the lines etched by despair and longing aged her 10 years. The warm sensation he felt whenever he was near her vanished, with a cold chill emanating off of her skin. But the thing that shattered Ed's heart into dust were her eyes. The enchanting, luminous eyes of the sea were blackened into irises of darkness. The whirlwind of emotions he always saw in her; curiosity, bravery, tenacity, resilience, affection, pride, confidence, and hope were nonexistent when he looked at her. Everything was replaced with one sole, primal, and hideous emotion: pain. Edward could never even begin to imagine when he had seen anyone in so much suffering. It tore his soul in half. Even when Scar admitted he killed her parents, her face had not been this utterly mortified. Could he really be responsible for that much anguish in Winry's heart?

"You don't have (sob) any idea where they could (sob) be?"

"Both Ed ward and Alphonse were taken to The Gate, the source of alchemy itself. We haven't got even a glimmer of a chance of finding him," said Roy.

Through tear-covered eyes, Winry shot her head up in anger in complete disgust at Colonel Mustang's pessimism. "There has to be a way to get there! Can't we go to this Gate ourselves?"

"Winry, I'm afraid that's impossible." Hohenheim said, as he slowly walked over to Winry's side. Ed was baffled. He actually looked worse than before. His kempt hair was now a mess, his shirt was unbuttoned, and the lines around his eyes were sketched even deeper into his skin, as the look of despair and hopelessness in his eyes was amplified even more by their loss.

"I already tried the same transmutation circle several times, using several different methods, seeing if even the surface on where the circle was drawn would change anything, but no matter what I tried, the circle won't activate. It's as if we've been barred off from The Gate and Truth."

It was then that Mustang spoke up once more. "While we rebuild the Capital and sort out everything in the Capital, I along with a select few will research everything we can about Human Transmutation and The Gate in order to see if there is anything we can do to help." he said.

"Me, Lan Fan, and May will stay here and help with the research and attempt to use our knowledge of Alkahestry to help heal the injured and see if that knowledge could be used to somehow reopen this Gate. Edward Elric..." Ling momentarily paused and shut his eyes tightly to maintain control of the despondency attacking his heart. "Edward Elric was my best friend. He saved my life, carried me when I was too weak to walk, ignited me with the passion of friendship, and reminded me what it was like to fight against the monsters in our path. I couldn't call myself a ruler or even a human if I didn't help my friends. I already lost my partner. I'm not going to lose my friend and his brother."

"Ed… Al…" These were the last words she was able to utter before her emotions overcame her once again. Pain, grief, suffering, sadness, frustration, helplessness, even the feeling of dread when she became part of a Philosopher's Stone, all attacked her at once as she crossed her arms on her lap and sank her head in defeat.

"Winry… I know." Teacher bent down and comforted her with her strong embrace, with Pinako falling suit, and Ed realized that Pinako and even Teacher were forming tears in their eyes, and neither did anything to stop them from rolling down their cheeks in sorrow. Soon after, Lieutenant Armstrong, Hohenheim, and May joined in this mourning of their friends and family, while Ling and Roy looked down in anger and grief, and Lan Fan and Sig stood in silence and bereavement.

"Everyone…" Ed was quivering in his boots, completely baffled by this unwavering showing of their affection. What had he done? How could he have let himself do something so reckless? He messed up, just like he brought Al into this mess and sent their life into this mixed up bucket of shit and completely screwed his little brothers life. And now, his friends, his family was all mourning for him. What kind of bastard would do this to them? He would. He honestly wouldn't blame Winry if she hated him for the rest of her life. He would probably hate him if their roles were reversed.

"Ed… I need you…" Ed darted his head to make sure he hadn't imagined that Winry Rockbell confessed something he thought he would have never heard in his life. Winry… needed him? Even after all of the pain he caused her, even after all of the injuries and secrets and lies that he hid from her, even after all of that, she still cared about him?

"Were you that oblivious to the girl's feelings for you? You really are a fool."

In that moment, all of the overwhelming sensations of sadness were replaced with a surging rush of hatred. Did he even need to turn around? Who else could it be but the bastard Truth?

"TRUTH! LET ME TALK TO THEM! GIVE ME THE CHANCE TO TELL THEM I'M OK! PLEASE!" Ed had never begged anyone for anything in his life, but he didn't care. His pride wasn't worth this kind of pain. He fell to his knees and lowered his head in submission. All he wanted was to stop their pain. The alchemist looked up, only to see that Truth's malicious grin didn't even budge, as he shook his head in disapproval.

"Well, Elric brother, your time is up. I have to say, I admire your compassion, but this is all you can get. Well, farewell, Alchemist!"

Truth lunged at Ed, and just as the tips of his fingers latched on to Ed's throat, he jolted from his lying position in a pool of sweat and was panting like Den (Pinako's dog).

Recollecting his thoughts, Ed sighed in relief that Truth hadn't been maniac enough to kill him, enough being the operative word. But that relief was overshadowed by the complete devastation overcoming Ed. Everyone he cared about believed him and Al to be missing, or even dead, and there was nothing Ed could do to relieve them of that lingering fear.

Too overwhelmed with the raw emotion he was feeling, Ed leaned his head against his pillows and close his eyes, hoping that tomorrow might give him and Al some relief from this emotional torture.

* * *

 _Didn't expect Van Hohenheim to be alive, did you? I've decided I want to keep him alive, since he is such a noble character and I feel he still has a place in this chain of events. Once again, I apologize for the late release, but I am pretty sure that the wait was worth it. I will be posting the next chapter very soon. Thank you all for reading._


	7. An Unexpected Turn of Events

_In the light of a new month, I like to start the month of December with another chapter. I would like to give a big thanks to those reviewers who don't give up on my mediocre writing. I just want to let you guys know that I'm trying. Hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

Rain was pouring, no pounding, onto the 104th Training Corps as the group of young solders were going on Shadis' "fun run" as they did every Saturday. Fatigue ripped away at the wills of all the weak spirited soldiers, and the 10-kilogram backpacks were only further deterring the energy of the weary soldiers, but the few adolescents who had hearts of steel were undeterred by the torrent of pounding rain and continued on the path with no restraint.

The smell of sweat was drowned out by the whirlwind of rain hurling and swirling in the afternoon weather. Fear of failure, punishment, and humiliation were the only factors that contributed to the determination of the young group, prompting some to continue sprinting, which would later pay dividends when their adrenaline level would decrease.

6 months had passed since the Elric brothers arrived to this hellhole and the 104th Training Crops had begun, and the Elric Brothers had gradually accustomed themselves to the world that they were living in. Sure, the training wasn't exactly a stroll in the park, but to the two alchemists, this was still nothing compared to the torture they had gone through with Teacher's intense training regiment. Their new friends were actually rather enjoyable and amicable in their eyes. The laid-back style of their peers was able to sooth them and managed to make the time spent away from their friends and family in Amestris a more tolerable and even pleasant experience.

The Fullmetal Alchemist led the pack of the soldiers, sprinting with all of his might with the efficiency and precision of a true soldier, his brother trailing just a few feet behind him. His technique and battle hardened form was not that of a soldier trained in the art of war for many years, his younger brother following suit Unbeknownst to the Elric brothers and the rest of the soldiers, this was actually an evaluation of the teenager's abilities thus far.

The sergeant rode silently with the group on horseback, observing the Shadis' stern expression was hidden from the rest of the group, as he dually noted the sole soldier lagging behind, his face scrunched in pain as he was gasping for breath in a solemn attempt to stay upright.

"Is that too heavy for you, Arlert? Fine, you can just drop it off. At least then the titans won't have to sort through a bunch of crap when you're eaten by the titans."

The fatigue and dryness in his throat rendered him almost incapable of giving even a response, and Armin ran without saying a word. Shadis scoffed in disappointment, as he sped up to join with the rest of the cadets.

"God…Damn…It…"

"Here, I've got you."

Armin turned his attention to Reiner, only to notice that his back felt a thousand pounds lighter.

"Reiner? What are you…"

"You need to keep your strength up so you can stay on your own two feet."

"But Shadis…"

"Hey, its not like this is being graded or anything. Besides, this is nothing for me." Reiner gave a sly smile, as if to tell Armin that he didn't have to be ashamed about.

While Reiner and Armin were busy conversing with each other, Shadis shifted his eyes to see the display of support given by Reiner.

'Reiner Braun. With the strength and talent of a grass fed ox, he's gained much respect from his fellow comrades.'

Unwilling to let Reiner take the fall for his lack of strength, Armin sprinted forward, reclaiming his backpack and rushing forward to catch up with his friends.

'Armin Arlert. I've never seen a weaker excuse of a soldier in terms of physical prowess, but his intelligence and strategies far exceed that of many of his fellow peers.'

Two hours had passed, and the training corps had continued from their morning fun run, moving onto the target practice for the nape of the titan's neck.

The swirling of blades and the noxious odor of gasoline whizzed around through the air as the soldiers flew to incise the targets, the hiss of metal wires further enhancing the air of lethalness.

"Jean Kirstein. He contains a great understanding of his vertical maneuvering equipment and knows exactly how to exploit it, but his personality often creates conflict with other cadets, particularly Eren Yeager.

"Bertolt Hoover. He's successfully mastered every skill thrown his way, and has potential for greatness, but his lack of drive and motivation hold him back from his true potential."

"Annie Leonhart. Her angle of approach with her blade strikes is unbelievable… Her precise targeting slices deep into the targets. Her hand-to-hand combat abilities completely surpass many if not all cadets in her corps. But personality wise, she does not cooperate well with others and prefers to stay alone."

"Damn it. There's no way I can match their speed. Guess I'll just have to reach the titans first!"

Diverting more gas to his thrusters, a blast of power pushed Jean forward with a burst of speed, leaving only a trail of thin gas in his path. Jean searched voraciously for a target, spying every detail and anomaly he saw, until he set his eyes on a lone target.

"There we go!"

"Hold up there, Jean!"

Connie Springer had followed Jean's trail, hoping it would lead him to another target, and he had predicted correctly.

"Connie Springer. His skills with the maneuver gear are above the level of several, but his slow mind and strategic mistakes prevent him from excelling."

So hiding atop the leaves, Connie came crashing through the tops, unsheathing hiss blades to strike his target, only to have his kill stolen by another sly fox.

"Haha! Yea!" Sasha Blouse's lucid movement caught both Connie and Jean off guard, and she was gloating in the adulation of her stolen target.

"Sasha Blouse. Her movements are elusive and her reflexes are noteworthy… But her childish behavior makes her ill suited for organized activities.

Several dozen meters away, Mikasa was hacking and slashing through all of her targets, her fluid and graceful movements only further demonstrating her uncanny abilities with her gear.

"Mikasa Ackerman. She has completely excelled at every task given to her, and her skills are truly unprecedented in the history of the training corps.

Trailing right behind her was Eren, eager to reach every target he could. Preparing to strike, he swung his blades full force at the nape, only to have his blades barely graze the surface of the target.

"Damn it. I'm still not cutting deep enough."

"Eren Yeager. Thick headed when it comes to intelligence, but his abilities are slowly improving. Driven by a sense of purpose that's almost terrifying."

Unbeknownst to Eren, a molten gold trail was tailing right behind him, slicing through his targets and gliding across the sky with ease as if he was made to be in the air.

"Eren! If you want to make deeper cuts, you need to change your angle of approach. Instead of aiming your blade straight down, tilt your blades to a 45 degree angle."

Eren complied, shifting his wrists to better accommodate for the new angle of approach, and as the next titan target came into reach, Eren's blades sliced clean through the spot, splitting it into two.

"Yes! I owe you one Ed!"

"Brother has really gotten good with this gear" said Alphonse, following Ed just mere inches behind him.

"Alphonse Elric. Knows how to land serious some serious punches in close range combat, and his reflexes with the gear aren't rusty, but appears to be holding back, mostly letting his brother take the spotlight."

"Edward Elric. One of the most gifted soldiers I've ever seen. He's like a Christmas special, served with Mikasa's skills and Eren's determination. His balancing with the vertical maneuver gear is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Seemingly impossible, yet somehow he's able to make it work."

"After a year and a half's worth of training, these cadets might actually give humanity hope."

Papers were scattered everywhere, the windows covered in dirt that prevented even the brightest sunlight from coming through. Shadis had finished the evaluation rather early, instructing the cadets to practice their hand-to-hand combat skills. It would give him some time to drift through the grandiose workload of paperwork he had to finish for new cadets being sent in the next 6 months. Shadis sighed a breath of pity, covering his face with his hands in sadness. He would never admit it to his cadets, but he didn't want to see these young adults sent to work in the survey corps of the Garrison. This wasn't their war to fight just yet, but they had to prepare themselves for the inevitable fight they would have to wage against the titans. Some cadets had even died from the stress this training had on their bodies. But Shadis knew he had no choice or say in the matter.

"Drill Sergeant Shadis!"

Shadis lifted his head up from his slouched position, looking in front of him was Lieutenant Rotiovick, a high ranking member of the Garrison regiment.

"Lieutenant Rotovick sir!" Shadis immediately shot up, saluting the Lieutenant in respect.

"As you were."

Shadis seated himself back down, but remained standing straight, knowing full well that a Lieutenant of such high ranking wouldn't be here if there wasn't something urgent.

"So Lieutenant, not that your company is not welcome, but why did you visit?"

"Here." Rotovick reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a letter, having a look of somberness as he took it out. Rotovick hesitantly handed shadis the envelope, sealed with the Garrison symbol. Shadis grabbed the letter, taking his switchblade out of his front coat pocket, and gradually cut open the envelope, praying that the news would not be bad.

Unfolding the envelope, Shadis read the letter. As he read each paragraph, his heart sank an inch lower. This couldn't be right. There was no way that this could be right, not now.

"Lieutenant, this can't be right! It's only been 6 months!"

"The order was sent out by Dot Pixis himself. His hands are tied."

Shadis shot up from his desk in unyielding rage. "But these kids aren't even 18 years old yet! What you're asking, it's nothing short of sending them to their deaths! You can't possibly agree with this decision!"

This time it was Rotovick who raised his voice. "Damn it don't you think I know that?! But we're running out of options! You've heard the whispers spreading through the ranks: expenses have been rising, grain has become more expensive, and the lost land of Wall Maria has cut off our farming land my almost half!

Rotovick walked up to Shadis' desk and spoke to him in a tender voice. "I know this isn't easy. I share your doubt and disagreement for this, but you know Dot Pixis wouldn't do this if he had any other options left. I'm sorry."

For a moment, Shadis lost himself, disconnecting himself from the outside world, as the thought of what this could mean sank in. He was so deep in thought, he didn't even see that Rotovick already left, leaving him alone in his dorm, with trembling hands, wondering how he could ever forgive himself for allowing this to happen.

* * *

"Jesus Christ! It's finally over!"

Cadets were lounging and laughing in the mess hall, all of them dog-tired from the rigorous exercises they had been forced to do. The heat of the lamps and the humidity of the cramped, dirty building only tired the adolescents even more. In the center area of the Elric brothers, Reiner, Bertolt, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Connie were all seated together, each attempting to drown out their soreness with food.

"Why did Shadis have gone that hard on us?" whined Connie, rubbing his back in pain.

"Use what little brain you have, genius." Reiner's muscles were killing him, sending his brain several signals to tell him to relieve his pain, but Reiner didn't want to show he to be weak. He was strong like an ox, "He was evaluating our performances, going to see how honed our abilities are. But for me, it was just a warm up."

"Anyway, at least we finally got to go all out," said Eren. "This is just a steeping stone to finally being able to join the survey corps and kill all the titans I can."

"Big talk Eren."

Jean had been sitting two tables behind the group, listening to their sad excuses and their big talk, like they were somehow better than the rest of them. His cheek rested on his hand, watching them boast as always.

"You know Marco, as soon as I get out of this dump, I'll be enjoying a nice cushy life with the Military Police, where I won't even have to think about titans."

"The fuck did you just say?"

"Oh did I strike a nerve?"

"Eren, don't let this pompous prick get to you."

Jean rose up from his chair, both him and Eren locked in an intense staring contest. Several people who had been conversing with each other overheard a loud argument, and turned away from their conversations to see what was going on.

"You really think that getting yourself into the military police gets you a one way ticket to the good life? You're not a soldier. You're a sorry excuse of a man."

Without warning, the door burst open, eliciting many gasps and jumps of surprise from others.

"The following cadets will report outside of my office! Mikasa Ackerman, Edward Elric, Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, Alphonse Elric. Annie Leonhart, Eren Yeager, Jean Kirstein, Marco Bott, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, Kirsta Lenz, Ymir, Armin Alrlert, and Thomas Wagner. The rest of you, go to your dorms to get some rest, because you're going to be put through the workout of your life. Dismissed!"

"Oh god. We're receiving some sort of punishment, aren't we?"

The 15 soldiers of the 104th training corps who had been selected were silently waiting just inches outside the doors of Shadis' office. Each soldier hadn't the foggiest idea of why he or she had been selected or what they were actually supposed to do. But they did know that whatever reason there was, it couldn't be good.

"Attention!"

Shadis burst through his doors, examining the reactions of his troops.

"Yes Sergeant Shadis!"

"As you were. Now, most of you may be wondering why it is that you have been brought out here tonight. You might be thinking that I've hand picked you for a grueling and mind numbing exercise. Well, let me put your doubts to rest, because no such thing will be occurring tonight."

The cadets were caught off guard by their sergeant's last statement. Each turned to each other with wide eyes, wondering if this was real or if they were in a dream.

"No, I'm afraid that this is much worse. At 5:00 this afternoon, Lieutenant Rotovick paid me a visit, giving me some very dire news. I have just been informed that the Garrison regiment is running dangerously low on soldiers. Many members of the Garrison were forced to be transfer to the Survey Corps to keep up with the amount of losses the Survey Corps has sustained in these past few months. So in an attempt to maintain an equal number of cadets, the top 15 soldiers of the 104th survey corps will finish their training a little early."

Everyone's mouths were open with disbelief. Even Annie and Mikasa had wide eyes, both barely able to comprehend what they had just heard.

Jean was the first to speak. "You don't mean…"

"Yes. From here on out, you're all members of the Garrison regiment."

* * *

 _Ohhhhh. Didn't expect that, did you? For people who are unaware, I'm going to be switching the places of a chapter or two based on my edits, so if you're confused, don't worry about it. For those who might be wondering if Shadis called out the names by the rankings, you are correct. I just personally believe that is the most accurate list, since Ed's bravery and determination, combined with the skills he gained from all his combat with the homunculus, would naturally make him 2nd, exceeded only by Mikasa. But I don't think the same exactly applies for Al, since he was still adjusting to having a body again, and he's a bit more shy than Ed, preventing him from exceeding the levels of Bertolt and Reiner. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!_


	8. Solemn Revalations

_All right, Chapter 7 is up!_

 _It was so annoying having to make this chapter. My computer froze on the spinning wheel like 3 times, and every time, I had to restart my computer, causing this chapter to be deleted. Although in the computer's defense, I didn't save the document, I still didn't expect the story to be lost. I was also working on a One Punch Man one shot, but that was lost as well. Anyway, hope you enjoy Chapter 7!_

* * *

"Yes. From here on out, you're all members of the Garrison regiment."

Each cadet remained where they were, too rattled with this news to even move from their spots, and only the sound of Shadis' door slamming managed to snap them out of their short lived daze. Seeing as Shadis had returned to his work, the 15 soldiers sorely began walking to return to their dorms for their last night.

Out of all the cadets, the one who was reeling the most from announcement was none other than Jean Kirstein. The world was falling apart around Jean's world as he began to realize the possibility of joining the Military police were dwindling down into single digits. The mere idea of never being able to live a care free life inside the walls of Sina made the vein on his temple throb immensely. And right now, the only one he could put this blame on was the asshole who called him a coward.

"I guess you got exactly what you wanted, Yeager Bombastic!"

Eren was unprepared for the shove he received from Jean, which promptly put him face first into the ground. Eren, furious at whoever had shoved him, shot back up and turned around to see Jean seething with anger, his sights set right for him.

"What are you talking about, asshole?"

Ed and Al overheard the sudden tantrum and swung around to witness Jean standing over Eren who was lying on the ground.

"Al, go back to the dorms. I'll take care of this."

Alphonse shot his older brother a look of curiosity at his older brother. "Are you sure brother?"

"I'll be fine, just go get ready for bed." Ed patted his brother on his back, sending his brother off to his cabin, to which Al reluctantly accepted, turning his head back several times just to be sure before he finally reached the door. Giving one last look, Al opened the door and entered the cabin, praying his brother wouldn't do anything excessive.

"We've all been placed in the Garrison regiment, forced into a military division some of us didn't even want just in case we MIGHT have to fight titans!" Jean rushed forward and grabbed the left side of Eren's shirt in an act of pure aggression. "I BET YOU WERE JUST WAITING FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!"

Without any warning, Ed had decided to intervene in this rather ugly outburst on Jean's part to make sure this little fiasco wouldn't escalate to a full out brawl, sweeping Jean's feet from under him, causing him to tumble over onto his back as the clouds of dust blinded Jean.

"Who the hell?!" Before Jean had the time to say anything more, he found himself being hoisted up to his feet by Ed's hands pulling him up from his shirt.

"Now listen, I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen really well to what I'm about to say..." Ed paused, and although his voice remained the same, and he gave no obvious signs of anger, Eren, and Armin would have to be idiots to not see the ominous chill emanating from Ed, and Jean just slightly cowered in fear.

"I'm not one who can say that I haven't had an angry outburst every now and then, but if you ever, and I mean EVER, try to take your anger out on my friends like that, I swear to god you'll be wishing the titans get to you before I do." Ed let go of Jeans shirt and shoved him back further simply to show his superiority over him. Jean looked around at the 2 other cadets staring at him, and knowing that there was nothing more that he could say or do that would give him an edge, Jean stomped back to his cabin in complete frustration without saying another word.

Eren's mouth was sealed shut from awe. Once again, Ed had managed to save him from another situation, and all Eren had done was spectate like a coward.

"Hey Ed. Thank's for having my back there."

Ed didn't look back and continued to watch Jean storm off in a fit of childish anger. "Well it's asshole's like those that really fuck up the military. Anyway, lets head back to our dorms."

Eren complied, and both walked back to prepare to rest, never taking his eyes off Ed.

"So gross..."

Edward Elric was tossing and turning in his sleep, his thoughts and analysis of the day's events racing through his mind. The humidity of the cabin and the heat coming from the dozens of other male cadets only enhanced the sticky sensation of sweat dripping ALL over his body. At the moment, Ed was faced with a difficult dilemma of what he thought of being promoted so quickly to a member of the military police. While on one hand, this would give him and Alphonse a greater opportunity to learn more about this country's history and if they were lucky, a brief glimpse at the vast knowledge contained in the library. But on the other hand, Ed still had absolutely no idea what obstacles would be facing them inside the districts.

During the 6 months of training he had received in this camp, Ed had attempted to squeeze what little information he could about this country and the way it's system worked, but so far he had not gotten any successful results. Armin was the most helpful of all the people he asked, and had managed to learn from him a small deal of knowledge about the workings of the 3 military divisions, their purposes in the government, and even the number of soldiers that were enlisted in each division. But unfortunately, Armin contained no extensive information about the library in the Capital or what types of literature were stored in it's shelves.

What made things worse was that in the Garrison regiment, according to what Armin had told him, it was much harder to create ties with high ranking officials, since they would often be hard to make personal contact with, and even harder to make any sort of appeal for a search in the library. So without that, Ed and Al would be forever stuck in this world, with absolutely no contact with their family or friends.

No, Ed's mind was too cluttered with all the possibilities and all the problems he still had to deal with. He figured that the best way to clear his mind of all the thoughts intruding his mind was to take a long walk in the forest. So Ed perched up from his sleeping position, quietly climbed down the ladders so nobody would notice he was awake, and tip toed across the dozens of beds with sleeping recruits, ever so careful to open the door without any creaks.

Ed sighed a breath of relief once he was outside, quickly proceeding to find a path to the forest to clear his mind.

What Ed did not realize however was that Eren had been awake for just as long as Ed had, and not only that, but he had witnessed Ed's silent attempt to leave the cabin. Refusing to let Ed walk alone in the night, and secretly wanting to get some private time with Ed, Eren mimicked Ed's movements exactly, managing to shut the door behind him without stirring any attention. With a note of reinvigorated energy, Eren urgently sprinted after Ed's quickly fading form.

The refreshing breeze whipped Edward Elric's face as the young alchemist walked in solitude. The dew of the pine trees dripped and dripped as time passed, and some managed to find their way onto Ed's shirt, but Ed didn't mind. He was certainly no stranger to a little bit of rain on his clothes. The young Elric was in a haze of uncertainty and confusion with what he should do. How was he going to be able to get back to everyone in Amestris? Tears of anguish from his friends had shown him the sad truth to their unparalleled and distraught emotions. But what could he do to quell their struggle?

Without realization, he suddenly found himself at the clearing of the dense forest. He stood there slacked jawed and as stiff as a board as right in front of him was quite possibly the most serene and beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on.

The jagged mountain range stood several hundred feet tall, covered by the dense layer of vegetation. Moonlight shone through the cloud covering and vividly reflected the slow peaceful water of the lake below. The stars twinkled and glimmered in the midnight sky. The only thing that Ed could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat and the gentle wind that swayed the wooded landscape.

How long had he yearned for a moment like this? Ed softly chuckled in delight as he seated himself, spreading his legs out and basking in the adulation of the peaceful moment. At that moment, nothing crossed Ed's mind but the tranquility of this glorious moonlight.

"You sleeping on me, Ed?"

His thoughts were abruptly put to a halt as he quickly opened his eyes and turned around to find Eren Yeager standing cross armed and smirking at him.

"Eren? How the hell did you know where I was?"

"I heard you walking out the cabin and couldn't resist the temptation to follow you. May I?"

"Oh yeah go ahead."

Gladly accepting his invitation, Eren quickly seated himself and sat cross legged directly beside Ed.

"Why did decide to come and take a walk anyway?"

"I needed to clear my head," said Ed, bringing his head down slightly. "And besides, you don't get night's like this."

"Fair enough."

Eren and Ed remained silent for several moments and stared at the moon with a fixed gaze. They stayed this way a while until Eren finally spoke up.

"Tomorrow we finally get to become official members of the Garrison."

"Yea."

"We finally get the chance to see what the world outside is like." Eren closed his eyes, remembering the moment when he and Armin found an old book belonging to Armin's grandfather. "Lands of ice, oceans of water."

Ed chuckled. "I know the feeling. Me and my brother could never stay put. We always travelled away from home whenever we could."

"Must sound fun." The tone of longing and jealousy was palpable in Eren's voice. "Hey Eren."

"Yea?"

Ed's lighthearted voice shifted down to a tone of sincerity. "Once we get out of this camp, we'll make it to the outside world, no matter what it takes."

Eren was taken aback by Ed's sudden declaration, so he smirked back as to not give anything away. "Sure Eren."

Both sat in another round of silence. After about 10 minutes of staring at the moon, Eren broke the silence once again.

"So I never asked: Why did you join the military?"

Ed thought of the simplest way to respond without giving anything away about his true identity. "I was forced to come here."

"Well, you're here now, and the only way you're gonna get out of here alive is if you never give up. Surely, you of all people understand that." Ed chuckled at his statement. "True."

"The only way you're going to survive in this world is if you fight."

There it was again. Ed had picked up on this attitude ever since he had learned the truth about the world they were living in. Whenever the topic of titans or Shiganshina was brought up, his face contorted into a mask of rage. He furrowed his brows, clenching his fists in anger, his mouth twisting into a snarl. But the feature that took him away more than anything were his eyes. When he looked into the eyes of Eren at that moment, he could only see pure hatred. He remembered only one other person whom he had ever seen with that look: Colonel Mustang.

Ed recalled in horror the way Mustang was in the labyrinth under the Capital. Roy showed absolutely no remorse in his eyes, and he knew on that day without a single shadow of a doubt that if he, Hawkeye, and Scar hadn't been there, he would have killed Envy in the most ruthless way he could conceive. In those moments, his pupils were black voids, absent of all emotions except for one: hate. The candle of anger in Roy had burst into an inferno hotter than the pits of hell, and he could feel that anger wash over him, engulfing him whenever he was near. They were just _barely_ able to stop him from permanently being consumed by never ending revenge, and this was the look that Eren had whenever the mere mentioning of anything related to titans. So what happened to him? What memory scarred him so badly that the only thing that satisfied him would be revenge? What was Eren haunted by?

"Eren, why did you join the military?"

"Why did I join the military? It's simple really. I'm not going to stop until every single titan is dead by my hands.

Once again, Ed distinguished the look of fury reappearing in Eren's eyes.

"Armin said that his family was from Shiganshina, right?"

Eren raised a brow in confusion at Ed's sudden change of topic. "Yea."

"And you and Armin are childhood friends?"

"That's right."

"I only have one more question for you: What happened to you the day that the titans invaded the Shiganshina district.

His face could not have been more astonished. How? How did Ed figure out that something horrible had happened on that day? Something that he could never erase from his mind?

" I evacuated with my family, that's all."

"Bullshit!" Ed shouted, surprising Eren and even himself. Puzzled by his own outburst, he ran his fingers through his wavy hair to calm himself. "If that were true, why haven't I heard you mention anything about your life before Shiganshina?"

Eren slowly walked towards, the expression on his face was dark, dangerous. He fixed his gaze on Eren, but neither would back down an inch. "Thats. My. Own. Business."

"Eren, you can't just shut out these things and keep them to yourself! If you do, you'll hurt yourself to the point where you can't even recognize yourself when you look in the mirror."

"You don't know anything about me!"

Before Ed could respond, his face made contact with Eren's fist, knocking him on the ground in a swirl of dust.

"Fuck you, Ed."

And just like that, Eren sprinted off into the woods as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

Remaining as he was, Ed lowered his head in disappointment and inner turmoil. But he knew that he couldn't give up on Eren. Ever since he had met him, he felt there was a connection. He didn't know if it was there or not, but he secretly wanted it to be there. Eren wasn't one to back out of a fight. He always met the challenge head on, refusing to take any bullshit from anyone else along the way, just like himself.

"Eren, I'm not stopping until you tell me what happened, hear me?" Ed's seirous demeanor kicked in as he stood up, running into the forest to search for his friend.

Goddamnit!

Ed was seriously starting to get pissed off. He had been searching for Eren for 20 minutes, but found no trace of him. He had already ruled out that Eren would return to the cabins, because if he knew Eren as well as he thought he did in the short amount of time they had together, he assumed he would want to be alone in peace, just like Ed had wanted to do tonight.

"Crap. The sun will rise in about 30 minutes, and I have to find him before…"

The words died at his throat when he saw his friend with his back against the trunk of a large tree. Ed was about to call out to him, but stopped himself when he noticed the obvious sadness in his posture. He was lying in a fetal position, with his head between his two legs and his arms crossed around his knees in a position of defeat.

Knowing he was in internal pain, Ed sat at Eren's side, placing his back to the wall of the trunk and hugging his knees to replicate Eren's position, and let his friend have his silence.

Ed was having a hard time keeping track of time. He believed that an hour had passed by, and he was already beginning to see the sunrise. But just when Ed was least expecting it, Eren Yeager finally spoke.

"I've never told anyone about what happened to me on that day. The memory was just… too painful."

"I understand your pain, but please. I want to know. I… I have to know."

Eren tilted his head toward Ed and saw something he had never seen in any other person or friend he had ever encountered: empathy. Could it be, could it be that Ed had gone through something just as bad as he did? Did Ed really understand what he was going through? Maybe, just maybe, Ed could understand what Eren was feeling.

"Ok. I'll tell you."

Eren heaved a deep breath, and regaled his story. "I can remember exactly where I was the day that the titans invaded. I had just gone out from my house because of an argument I had with my mom. I had seen members of the Survey Corps, one of the 3 branches of the military, come through the other day, and I was completely enthralled with what they did. Those guys ventured outside the walls, killed titans, and slowly helped humanity reclaim its lost land. I so desperately wanted to be a part of that. It was my destiny. But my mom disagreed. She knew of the extremely high mortality rates, and didn't want me risking my life to go out there."

"My dad didn't say whether he objected or not, but on that day, he left. He didn't say why, where, or for how long, but before he left, he told me that once he got back, he would show me what had been working on in the cellar, and gave me a key just before he left."

Ed had to hold back his emotions so they wouldn't come out and interrupt Eren. Eren had a father who left his family without any explanation? What were the fucking odds?

"So anyway, me and my mom butted heads, and I ran off in a huff of anger to the river near the center of the town. Mikasa followed me, and Armin had decided to hang out there for the afternoon with us. While the day passed, Armin, Mikasa, and me mostly stayed quiet, sometimes mentioning the military and the Survey Corps, yet both of them knew I wanted silence. Then out of nowhere, a huge bolt of lightning came hurtling down from the sky. The ground shook and trembled in this lightning's wake, knocking me off my feet. Armin quickly wanted to see what had happened, so he sprinted as fast as he could to see what had happened."

"I quickly followed suit, and called out to him to wait up. When I reached him, I saw he was staring up at the top of the wall. I asked him hat was going on, if it was some kind of explosion, but when I looked up at the wall, I felt like the gravity around me intensified to the point where I couldn't move a muscle. What I saw was something no human being should have ever laid eyes on."

"Standing at the entrance to Wall Maria was a titan that stood taller than the Wall itself. It was truly a demon of hell. It towered over the walls, being at least 60 meters in height. It was like his entire face had been peeled off, and all you could see was the muscle beneath. His entire body emanated steam, almost completely clouding everything around him. Before anyone could even react, the Colossal Titan kicked apart the gate of Wall Maria like it was kicking a soccer ball."

"Stones came hurtling in all directions. Buildings were decimated, the people were panicking, running in all directions, going to try and find their loved ones. It was then that I remembered that my house was very close to the gate. I sprinted for my house, hoping, no praying, that my mom would be ok. As I was sprinting toward my house, I constantly told myself that everything was going to be all right, but the absolute devastation I saw was something that I will never forget. Civilians were crushed by the weight of the stones, and each of them were gasping their least breathes, looking into the eyes of their families for help, and saying their final goodbyes. Houses destroyed from everything to the basement, until they looked like nothing but a pile of broken bricks and boards."

"When I finally reached my house I…" Eren choked on his words for a moment, with tears almost sliding down his cheeks, but soon managed to regain control of his emotions. "I saw my mom lying under the roof of our house, her legs completely crushed under the weight of the roof. I ran to her, and told Mikasa to grab onto the pole and pull as hard as she could, but it wouldn't budge. Suddenly we heard the footsteps that shook the ground in its wake. I looked up, and saw a titan. This fucking thing was 14 meters tall, with unnerving eyes, and the smile of the devil himself. I told Mikasa to try harder, but she said she was giving everything she had."

"My mom told us, 'You have to get out of here. Take Mikasa and run.' I refused go without her, saying I would be more than happy to, but now without her. She told me that her legs were broken, and that she would never be able to walk again. I knew she was right, but there was no way in hell I was letting her go. Then, as if by some miracle, a soldier named Hannes had come to stop the titans."

"My mom told Hannes to take me and Mikasa and head to the ferries that were leaving town. Hannes gave a confident smirk, and said that he would handle the titan by himself, since that was what he was trained to do. I watched him take out his blades and get ready to face the titan head on, and I got pumped up, knowing that he had come to save us and kill the titans. I yelled, 'Go get him, Hannes'. Hannes was about 10 meters away from, when he stopped."

"Why did he stop?! Why didn't he kill the titan?!" questioned Ed in a semi-angry tone as his chest shot up from his slouched position in a new mode of surprised anger.

"He was completely mortified. If you saw the look on his face, you would have seen why he didn't attack. His legs were bent and shivering in complete fear, his arms drooped to his sides in almost a submission to the titan's frightening. Anyway, he sheathed his blades, and came back, picking us up and running away without our mom. I screamed at Hannes, telling him that we couldn't leave him. I pounded my fists against his body to let me go, called him names, anything I came up with, but I couldn't stop him. I couldn't do anything but watch the titan get closer and closer to my mother, pacing itself as it came in for the kill, and do you know what my mom said while all of this was happening? 'I love you! Never forget!' I didn't say anything, didn't scream for my mom, didn't try to resist, I didn't do anything but view the titan picking my mom up, watch it's carnal lust being satisfied with my mom's flesh. The titan tore my mom in half, and he sank his teeth into her flesh, and I just stood and watched…"

Those were the last words Eren was able to speak before the sheer weight of the moment kicked in once more, as all of the helplessness, regret, heartache, and despondency rushed up, surging up his body to his eyes in the form of teardrops, and this time nothing was stopping the tears from spilling down onto his shirt. Ed had to blink back tears himself at the sight of Eren's pure, raw emotions. My god. And he thought that what happened to him and Al was bad. Compared to what Eren must have been feeling, Ed's sadness was like a paper tiger against a hurricane of despair.

Reluctantly moving his hands, Ed reached his arms around Eren's body. He placed his hands around to lay around his collarbone, and wrapped his arms around his neck in his own way of showing he understood. Eren tilted his head to Ed, his eyes narrowing. What was Ed doing? Why was he comforting him? Anybody else would have just stood there, staring in an uncomfortable silence until he stopped crying.

A new feeling that he wasn't too familiar with arose in his heart. He didn't have a name for it, but all he knew was that he was glad that he had told Ed, and that he was glad that Ed at least had a basic idea of what Eren was feeling, and in his eyes, that made him a friend on a deeper level than almost anybody he knew.

This new feeling surprisingly allowed Eren to calm down his raw feelings, and after about 1 minute, Eren managed to stop the waterworks coming from his eyes.

"After 10 minutes of Hannes carrying me, my fighting spirit returned to me, and I started kicking, punching, and squirming in anger. I said to him, 'You bastard! We could have saved her!' He told me to stop, but I continued to scream and bang my fists, until he flipped me over and slammed me back first onto the ground. He bent down onto his knees, then continued on, saying there was nothing that I could have done to save her because I'm just a kid, and I was too weak to save her.

"The irrepressible rage built up at his words. I looked up, crawled to him and threw my right fist to his face. He caught my wrist, and while I struggled to get loose of his iron grip, he stated 'But I'm worse. I had the skills and the strength, but in the end, I was too scared to do anything to stop them. You're mother died because I'm a fucking coward!' My anger instantly washed away like ice on a summer day when I saw that he was crying. He was genuinely sorry, there was no other way you could see it if you saw the look in his eyes, the pain implanted in his soul. I started crying once more, and simply followed him as Hannes grabbed my hand and walked us to the ferries."

"Me and Mikasa met up with Armin as we were boarding. Armin seemed momentarily happy to see us, but his smile faltered after he saw my devastation present on my face. I didn't do anything, I didn't think anything, I didn't even bat an eye to when the Armored Titan barreled through the 2nd wall like it was paper. My soul felt it had left from my body, and all that remained was the most pitiful depression sulking like a nobody. I couldn't stop thinking about how horrible I had been. All my life, my mom had been there fore me. She was always there to bandage and clean my wounds whenever bullies beat me up. Her smile was always there to warm my dampened mood. All she ever cared about was my well-being. In return, I always acted like a selfish brat, only caring about how I felt, only wanting to join the Survey Corps for my own reasons, never thinking about her. I never even said 'I love you.'"

"It was at that moment, in that heated, scorching hot moment, I made a promise. I made a vow that no matter what, I would become a member of the Survey Crops and slaughter every single titan I could get my hands on." Eren's face contorted into a hateful snarl as he reminded himself of his promise. "I won't ever stop until the titan's are killed by me!" said Eren, clenching his fists so hard that a trickle of blood could be seen flowing down his palm.

After Eren finished, Ed slumped against the tree, with his hands resting weakly on his thighs. In all of his years of searching for the Philosopher's Stone, Ed could honestly say he had never gone through anything this traumatic. No wonder Eren had that look of pure wrath in his eyes whenever he thought of titans. If their roles were reversed, Ed would feel this exact same anger and join the military to kill his mother's murderer.

Ed gently put a hand on Eren's left shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Eren. I know that was a abhorrent memory to relive, but I'm glad you told me."

Eren shifted his head to meet Ed's azure eyes, nodding in appreciation. "Well, you're the only person I've ever told this to, so yea." The ends of Eren's mouth tugged up, his eyes now filled with a new sense of friendship he had just made with Edward Elric.

"Brother?"

"Eren?"

The tender moment of understanding between these two soldiers was abruptly ended at the sound of Alphonse and Armin's voice and the relief laced within it.

"Al? Armin? What are you guys doing here?" questioned Ed, slowly getting up from his slouched position.

Armin quickly replied, "I woke up in the middle of the night, and I looked down from my bunk to see if Eren was still there, but he was gone. Shortly after, I noticed your bunk was empty too, so I woke up Al and told him that you guys had gone outside."

"We've spent about an hour looking for you. What happened?" said Al.

"Oh me and Eren just wanted to get some fresh air." Ed slightly turned his head to Eren, smirking in a way that said 'You're secret's safe with me'.

Eren Yeager saw the cue and smirked back, as he pushed himself off the ground with his arms.

"Yea. Anyway, we should get back before Shadis finds out we're missing and has all our heads."

Laughter erupted within the quartet of teenagers. "No question about that." replied Ed.

As the four soldiers walked to their cabin, Ed had a realization. Thing's were actually going to be ok for him and Al. Sure, they couldn't reach their friends and family, but right now, they had made new friends that would help them endure the horrible atrocities in this world. And the Fullmetal Alchemist would give up anything to protect and help his friends.

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 _Ok, I know that this scene is emotional, but that's the emphasis of this chapter. Eren reveals the truth about what happened to his mother in Shiganshina, and Ed is completely shocked at this discovery. I hope that I kept all of the character's personalities correct. I know Eren might not have revealed his past so soon, but hey, anything's possible. Please, review with any thoughts you have, whether it be positive or negative. I want any advice that would help me improve this fanfiction for you guys. Thanks for the views!_


	9. Another Change of Pace

_Hey guys, I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update for the past 2 weeks, but I've had a lot of tests to study for and I still have exams that I need to work on and prepare for. So here it is, chapter 9!_

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"ELRICS, BRAUN, YEAGER, KIRSTEIN, BOTT, ARLERT, WAGNER, MOVE YOUR ASSES! IT'S MORNING!"

Several other cadets woke up to Shadis' order and stood up in attention

"Not you! The rest of you, go rest your pathetic excuses of bodies." These cadets secretly sighed in relief, each of them making their way back to return to their much-needed slumber.

But while the fear ridden and obedient scrambled from their bunks and uniformly lined in single file line backs straight, other less composed individuals, consisting of Edward Elric, groaned and moaned, rubbing his back in irritation.

Even after six months of military disciplining, the rebellious hotheaded teenage still had not diminished, as he objected to this early wake up call. "Sergeant, I thought you said we would be woken up at the crack of dawn. It's 3 past midnight…"

The words died at his lips the moment he saw Shadis hovering directly in front of him, his eyes darkened with a tone of seriousness and flat out intimidation, and Ed did not have nearly the same conviction he had just seconds before.

"Are you insulting my intelligence? Are you implying that I'm not aware of what I told you, that I somehow forgot…"

Although Shadis' face did not change and his mouth remained the same, Ed felt a cold wave wash over his skin and caused him to shudder. Although Ed's temper was still a force to be reckoned with, Ed knew his authority and demeanor were like a paper tiger in front of a storm compared to the punishments Shadis could dish out. This was one of many things he learned in this camp, so swallowing his pride; he straightened his back and quickly said, "Of course not sir! My apologies!"

Tension continued to rise within the cabin, until the sergeant scoffed in dismissal and headed for the door. Before he shut the door on his soldiers, he softly said, "Be outside in 10 minutes."

The cadet's posture slouched as soon as Shadis closed the door behind him. "Man Ed, you really pussed out like a bitch," joked Connie. Ed sharply turned to Connie; his pupils disappeared in an anime style fashion. "What place were you in Connie? I forgot. Oh wait, you were 11th." Everyone chuckled in amusement, while Connie's cheeks burned red. "You want to run 300 laps at 4:00 in the morning? Be my guest, but unfortunately, that's not how I want to start my morning."

Connie dismissed his comment, letting Ed have the last word on the matter since he couldn't come up with any witty comeback, briskly returning to his bed. Each cadet followed suit and quickly tidied the sheets together, fluffing their pillows and leaving everything prepared for the guys who would be replacing them the day after. The Elric brothers had just finished repeating making their bed for the 180th time, and headed out the doors to converse in private.

"So brother, do you think we'll have to fight any titans while in the Garrison?"

"I'm pretty sure it won't have to come to that. Members of the Garrison just patrol the cities, if I'm not mistaken, but we won't personally fight titans."

"Brother, do you think we've received enough training to defeat the titans?"

Ed put his fingers to the sides of his head in exhaustion. "I don't know Al. But if we were able to get in the top 5 spots, we'll manage." Al slightly smiled. "Of course brother."

The scent of pine trees and the early morning chimney smoke that he had become very familiar with filled the air. Even after all this time, he still couldn't believe it had been six months since Alphonse and Ed had been magically transported to this camp. He'd become accustomed to small talk with the other cadets, and had even made a small clique with a select group of the soldiers. But some of his best experiences had been with Eren Yeager.

Shadis' form came into view, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Behind him was a parked wagon with 6 dark brown neighing in anticipation for their departure.

This was the Elric brother's cue to get a move on, both sprinting as fast as they could to avoid conjuring the wrath of their superior. "Elric Brothers! Looks like the girls beat you to the punch. You're about 5 seconds away from getting yourselves 100 pushups unless you get in the wagon!"

"Yes Sir!" Ed and Al strutted up the wagon, feasting their eyes on Mikasa, Annie, Sasha, Christa, and Ymir each sitting patiently. Sasha had fallen fast asleep and was currently resting her head on Mikasa's shoulder. Mikasa, too kind to reject her, stared in front of her with a blank daze, her mind a blank slate.

"About time some guys showed up." Said Ymir, shaking her head in a condescending tone. "Hey take it easy! At least we're the first one's here."

Both brothers seated themselves to the right of Mikasa, exchanging confused gazes at Mikasa's odd silence. Even after six months, both brothers hadn't seen even a slimmer of emotion escape the face of Mikasa Ackerman, and neither of them had the foggiest idea of why that was. As much as Ed's pride was shot, he admitted to himself that she was better than he was as soon as he saw her fluid, graceful motions when she used her 3d gear.

Alphonse tapped her on the shoulder. "Mikasa, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," said Mikasa, not even looking him in the eyes as she did.

"How do you feel about becoming a member of the Garrison even though you were number 1?"

Mikasa swiftly turned her head to Alphonse. "It doesn't really bother me. I'm fine with going anywhere as long Eren's with me?"

Alphonse displayed some mild surprise at her answer. "What do you mean?"

He didn't even have time to answer his question as the rest of the male cadets flooded into the wagon, talking calmly with each other as if they were going to the mess hall.

"… there was no way that I should have come behind you and you know it, Eren!"

"Bullshit! You're just saying that because you're too pissed at the fact that I'm better than you!" Jean and Eren were locking horns with each other, trying to berate each other as usual. "If you ask me, you're both a bunch of pissants," said Reiner as he sat down at the far end of the wagon.

Finally Shadis came on board, effectively silencing any ensuing arguments. "Alright! We are going to be headed for Trost District, which is about 4 hours away. There is to be no talking, no arguing, no shoving, and no fist-fights. You can sleep if you want, but if any of you dare wakes me up from my nap, I'll personally throw you off this wagon and leave you in the woods for the rest of your miserable lives." Everyone gulped, which was their way of saying they understood.

"Ok then. We're all clear! Lets get a move on!" The rider whipped his riding crops, and the top 15 cadets began their voyage to the Trost district.

"Attention!"

The top 15 early graduates from the 104th training corps were standing, saluting in respect to their superior, who had unexpectedly dropped by for a visit. Shadis nearly choked on his breakfast when he heard that Dot Pixis himself would be coming to say his graces for these young adolescents.

Every single soldier had taken extreme measures to make themselves look the best they could possibly be when they heard Dot Pixis was coming. Everybody knew who Dot Pixis was. Even the Elric brothers had been told of his authority. If the commander of the Garrison regiment and highest ranking administrator of the southern region came to visit them for their coronation, this must have been a grandiose situation.

Ed carefully noted the features of Dot Pixis. His bald head glimmered in the morning sun. His gray mustache perfectly suited his gold eyes. His top button was undone, and his purple bolo tie was loosened in a disorderly fashion. But unlike Commander Shadis and General Armstrong, he radiated more of an easy going and loose vibe. While the lines under his eyes indicated his many years in service, his gold eyes showed an entirely different story. He was a kind of commander he had never seen before.

Standing 10 meters to Pixis' right was Shadis, and he was mildly bewildered when he heard word that their coronation ceremony would be placed in the center military castle of the Trost District. The cadets barely even have time to change clothes before Shadis whipped them out of their beds and onto the horse drawn wagons. It just didn't add up. Why would they have gone to such drastic measures to recruit these members of the 104th training corps? While yes, some of their abilities far surpassed any group he had trained combined, they were still too early in the process to already be pledging them as full ranked soldiers. Even Levi Ackerman, the greatest soldier known to mankind, still had to wait 2 years until he finished his training, so what was different this time?

He would be caught dead before he would ever admit this to any living soul, but he was actually proud of these soldiers. In his many years of training, no group ever had the qualities of these 15 cadets, and not just with skills, but even their individual personalities were unlike anything he had ever seen before. He had put them through six months of living hell, and in return, he was presented with a batch of young adults who were ready to take what this world had to dish out.

"I know that this must be challenging for you to circle your head around, but this is reality, and each and every one of you must accept that if you are to become successful members. And I will personally promise you that once 18 months have passed, those of you who still desire to join the Military Police will have my blessings."

"Now I understand you were not expecting this sudden promotion, and I apologize for this sudden change of plans, but let me assure you there is a reason for this. You have all undergone things that many would not dream of ever living through. You have distinguished yourselves as strong, composed, and determined soldiers who fought against the rigorous obstacles in your path with great prowess and furious will, and for these reasons you have been called today."

"Welcome to the Garrison regiment, members of the 104th training corps."

The soldiers all put their hands to their heart in a salute. "SIR!"

Pixis wryly smiled in bliss. "Good. Now, there's just one thing you need to do to enlist yourselves as members…" Connie's heart went down 10 flights when two and two clicked together. "No…."

"AW COME ON!" Connie shouted in anger. He, along with the rest of his friends, were doing their first jobs as members of the Garrison, consisting of cleaning the cannons with mediocre sweepers. "Connie, calm down! You're scaring me!" said Ed, hoisting him off he edge of the wall.

"But I mean really? This is our first job as members of the Garrison? Cleaning the cannons like we're a bunch of incompetent assholes?" Scents of soot and gunpowder filled the nostrils of these newly promoted cadets, infuriating some of them and annoying others.

"Hey guys, can you keep a secret?"

Sasha walked towards her peers, the drool coming from the corners of her mouth and the slight red on her cheeks signaling that she had something important she wanted to say.

"Sure?" said Ed questioningly, looking to his friends for any possible answers, but finding none.

"I stole some meat from Shadis."

Everyone's face contorted in shock and awe, except for the Elric brothers, who were just mildly surprised. "You actually had the guys to steal from meat? From Shadis?"

"What's the problem?" asked Ed.

"Seriously?!" Armin then spoke up, giving the answer to the question that the Elric brothers constantly asked. "Ever since Wall Maria was taken by the titans, meat has been one of the rarest commodities in the country, and even before Wall Maria was taken, it's value was still exceedingly high. Even gold isn't as precious as meat. During our time in the camp, we never once had the luxury of eating meat."

"Oh. Still, I miss the taste of fresh meat on my plate. Remember Al?"

"Of course brother. Mom's lamb chops were the best thing I ever tasted. She served them to us every day for lunch."

Armin eyes both of them curiously. "Wait, you had lamb every day?"

"Uhhhh… Yea…"

"Does that mean you come from a wealthy family? You never told us much about your childhood."

"Yea we were pretty set when we were kids…" said Ed, tapping his foot and running his hand through his golden hair. Without warning, an unbearable pain randomly appeared through his automail. He put his knee to the ground, squinting his eyes shut. Alphonse, Armin, and Eren immediately kneeled beside him. "Are you alright, Ed?"

Ed stood up, dismissing the small shock waves of tension still racking his body. "Yea, I'm fine. We should be getting back to work before somebody catches us." Everyone gladly accepted and resumed their work. Armin and Eren gave one last look of concern, before grudgingly agreeing to continue their jobs. The younger Elric brother however did not comply, and eyed his older brother with a look of great concern, before voicing his fear they both were having. "Brother, your automail…?

Ed sighed. "I know. I haven't had my automail tuned for six months, and training in the cold rain and hot sun just made it worse, and to top it all off, I've had to train every day with intense exercises… Fuck."

"On the bright side, at least now you can rest your automail since we don't have to train anymore."

Ed chuckled at his brother's optimism. That is what he loved about him.

"But still, I t would be nice if Winry was here. Winry would know what to do…" said Al, not realizing he had said this out loud before seeing the distressed look on his brother's face. "I'm sorry brother."

"It's fine Al… Anyway, we need to join the others and finish cleaning the walls."

"But brother…"

"Now Al!"

Al sighed in defeat, before walking over to clean the farthest cannons to the right with Armin.

Armin was silently waiting for Alphonse, secretly hoping he could get some answers out of his younger brother, who was in his opinion more reasonable and less brash in his decisions. Armin inwardly bowed his head in shame for the way he had pestered Ed for answers. It was just that he didn't fina any amusement in secrets being held from him, especially when they were close companions. But however much he might want to learn what Ed was hiding, he was still a close friend and didn't want to do anything that was border lining his personal problems, if he had any.

His daydreams were cut short at the sound of Al's footsteps. "Is your brother alright?"

"He's fine. Brother's just sore, that's all."

"Ok good." Armin was about to ask Alphonse more about his past life, but then at the last moment decided against it. He had done enough snooping around for the day, and he didn't want to say something he might regret.

While the rest of the group was diligently working, Eren was taking in the view of the Trost district..

"Look who's daydreaming now, Yeager." Ed wasn't really the kind of soldier who did manual labor, and after noticing Eren splinter off from the group to dwell on his thoughts, Ed couldn't resist seeing what Eren was up to. "What're you thinking about?"

Eren smiled. Finally, mankind had prevailed against the titans. They had been given the proper training, they had been given the weapons to stop the titans, and they had made several friends along the way. This was the day humanity said in one voice that they won't go quietly into the night; they would not vanish without a fight. Today was the day they would bring the fight to the titans. "Well, I was thinking that…"

A gargantuan bolt of lightning crashed down onto the earth, the fragrance of ozone and smoke signifying it's grandiose entrance. From the lightning bolt emerged a creature of inconceivable size and texture; the very titan that changed the lives of humanity forever.

The Colossal Titan had returned.

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 _So this is the beginning of the Trost arc. I'll try to keep on writing new chapters as soon as I can, but please review these chapters and click the favorite button. I would like to give a big thanks again to those who wrote reviews for my story. Be sure to check out my one shot on one punch man, Pig God's Usurp, and my other story on One Punch Man. Thanks for reading!_


	10. Breached

_The 10th chapter is up. Enjoy._

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The Colossal Titan had returned.

"NO WAY!"

All the while, the titan lifted his right foot back, and pummeled through the gate once again. The wooden structures placed near the gate were able to intercept some of the flying debris, but unfortunately the shockwave alone destroyed several nearby houses, shattering every window in sight.

Ed and Eren were completely pushed back as the Colossal Titan spewed scalding hot steam, forcing every soldier off the edge with it's sheer temperature. The soldiers just barely managed to hook themselves on the wall. As soon as Ed and Eren were attached, they immediately searched around, trying to confirm if everyone was with them.

"Is everyone alright?!"

"Brother, I'm alright! Armin's with me."

"I'm good too!" said Connie.

"Someone's wire just got loose!"

Ed and Eren were confused at first, and then watched in horror as one of the soldier's began plummeting toward the ground.

"We have to go get him!" shouted Eren. Eren was about to jump for the falling comrade, when he felt a hand on his arm. He snarled at the intrusion, and saw it was Ed. "Eren, you won't be able to make it. His speed of descent outpaces your fastest speed." Eren closed his eyes, knowing that Ed was right.

Knowing that she was the closest to the soldier, Sasha detached herself from the wall, and then began sprinting down the wall, gradually gaining speed, and just as she was close enough to reach him, she shot her hook at the soldier and managed to latch himself on by his foot.

Ed's face beamed in delight. "Nice one Sasha!" Eren opened his eyes, and sighed in relief knowing the soldier didn't fall to his death. "Good." Eren's joy was short lived, and the pent up anger came boiling back up.

"The bastard broke though the wall… The titans are gonna get in…

THEY'RE GOING TO GET IN!" shouted a frantic Connie.

Eren stood there stunned, refusing to accept that the titans were coming through again. No. No they weren't going to get in. He tightened his grip on his handles in fury. They weren't going to get in because he was going to kill all of them before they even had the chance!

"COME ON GUYS! THIS IS OUR TIME TO SHOW THE TITANS WE'LL BE THE ONES TO FINISH THIS!"

Eren unsheathed his blades, setting his sights for the Colossal Titan. With a sense of determination and anger more powerful than he had ever felt before, he propelled himself with phenomenal speed to claim his first titan ill.

"Eren!" Ed clenched his teeth in anger. He couldn't let Eren take on this monster all by himself. His skills weren't at that high of a level, and nobody had ever trained to fight a titan this immense.

"Al! Armin! You guys stay where you are! I'm gonna help Eren!"

"Brother I want to help too!"

"No Al! I'm not going to take that chance!"

"But…" Ed had already boosted his way up to the top, leaving two blonde soldiers completely dumbfounded.

"You're brother is really brave Armin."

"Thank you. Eren is also rather selfless."

"But that's the problem," said both soldiers at the same time. They both ran their hands through their hair. When would they learn to control themselves?

Ed swiftly reached the top of the wall, quickly met with Eren's shouting. "ED! LOOK OUT!" Ed looked and instantly noticed the titan's right arm headed straight for him. He immediately jumped up in the air and watched in bewilderment as the titan swept his hand through the several scores of cannons and track rails.

Ed's heart dropped to his stomach. How did it know to take out the artillery cannons?

"EREN! IT JUST TOOK OUT ALL OF OUR CANNONS!" shouted Ed through the deafening noises of hissing steam and falling debris. "YEA! ED, YOU SHOULD GET OUT OF HERE!"

Ed forcefully shook his head in refusal. "Eren, I'm not letting you fight this thing alone."

Eren smiled at Ed's stubbornness, happy that he refused his offer.

"I didn't think so."

"We can do it Eren! Fight for humanity! Let's take this bastard down!"

A strange emotion surged through his heart already beating with rage, and at that moment, he felt strangely happy that Ed was at his side. "Yea!" Eren stared back at the Colossal Titan; eager to finish it's life. "It's been about 3 years. How about a nice slice of vengeance!" The two propelled themselves for the titan, almost synchronized in their movements.

The Colossal Titan swung it's hand for Eren and attempted to grab him, but his body was simply too bulky to match their speeds. Suddenly, he felt an odd stabbing at the back of his neck and slapped the back of his neck with his left hand.

Ed's face was contorted in irritation, dissatisfied with his attacks. Luckily this titan's size gave it a significant disadvantage in a close range battle, but the size of his neck was simply too large to pinpoint the exact location of his weak spot.

While Ed stayed frozen midair for a brief moment, Eren took advantage of the Colossal Titans distraction and sprinted up his arm. This was his moment. It was now or never. "I'VE GOT YOU NOW MOTHER FUCKER!" But just as his blade was inches away from its nape, the titan instinctively released a tremendous wave of steam, pushing away the two soldiers with its power. Eren and Ed were momentarily stunned by the wave of heat, and were unable to move.

"Don't give in Eren! Give it everything you got!" The two met each other's eyes, and knew they had each other's backs. With adrenaline now pumping through them, they forced through the high-speed smoke and together slashed at the titan's nape, only to realize that the titan had vanished into thin air.

"What? It disappeared?" Edward and Eren hooked themselves onto the side of the wall in disappointment, the pain from the exhausting battle kicking in.

"Are you all good Eren?" Eren painfully nodded, soreness now encompassing every part of his body. "You did good Eren. I guess this makes us even now." Eren bitterness about the titan's escape prompted him to say nothing. Ed sighed, knowing it was best to leave it as it was.

The pain Ed was feeling before quickly resurged in his arm and leg, much worse than before. He pulled his hair; keeping his eyes closed and doing anything he could to stop this unbearable pain. Did his battle with the Colossal Titan somehow have an affect on his automail? He tried to reason in his head the possibilities of why his automail was giving him such pain, but he found none.

Eren blinked a few times and shook his head when he heard noises of discomfort coming from Ed. He looked over and saw Ed writhing in agony, his face scrunched in torment. "Ed!" Eren launched himself over to Ed and scanned his body to see if there was any area burned or damaged, but so far, he found nothing. "Ed, are you alright?"

Ed opened his eyes and reflexively moved away in surprise. "Oh Eren. Yea, I'm alright." Eren was less than satisfied with Ed's mediocre answer. "Ed, you looked like you were in serious pain. Are you sure it was nothing serious?" Ed continued to ensure Eren everything was fine, but Eren saw something that made him freeze in his tracks. For a fraction of a second, Eren thought he saw Eren's right arm completely encased in metal.

Metal? Why would his arm have some sort of metal covering? It didn't add any usefulness in battle, and the slight weight imbalance would cause a great disadvantage while flying with the gear. Suddenly he began to understand why Armin had continuously questioned Ed about nearly everything he did.

Now that he looked back, there were more than a handful of odd behaviors Ed demonstrated. For starters, he always kept himself covered in all areas no matter where they were. Even his hands were always covered by white gloves that he seemed to always have on hand. Not only that, but he never accompanied the rest of the soldiers whenever they showered in the morning or afternoon.

Every time he fought alongside Eren with the vertical maneuver gear, the technique he used was unnatural. Mikasa's style of combat was fluid, graceful, and her speed added onto her astounding abilities, but Ed's style of combat was rather erratic. Several times in midair, he would adjust his center of balance, and while these shifts were rather short, they still occurred enough for somebody to notice. While Ed's speed was unreal, the type of balancing he used appeared impossible. Eren had mostly ignored that since Ed wasn't a regular soldier, but now that factor was rather important in figuring out if Ed really did have something odd, or even, artificial about his body…

Eren mentally slapped himself in the face. What was he thinking? From what he was gathering based on Ed's behaviors… it was almost like his right arm was actually metal. How retarded did that sound? He had seen the dozens of injured soldiers, and none of them had even the hint of mechanized limbs. That kind of technology was just too advanced for the military, and even if there was some sort of procedure, it must cost a fortune to do so. So how could Ed have gotten such a procedure? Eren put his hands to his temples to massage his head. This much intense thinking was giving him a headache. He would go tell Armin about this. He would probably know what this all meant…

"Hey guys! Are you alright?" Eren and Ed looked up to see Thomas standing over the wall, his face showing he was extremely worried. "Yea we're alright." Thomas sighed in relief, putting his hand over his chest in alleviation. "So did you guys kill it?"

"No! It somehow escaped," said Ed, bitterness evident in his voice.

But now wasn't the time to mope in their own sadness. He needed to talk to Al.

The duo quickly got up to the top of the wall, where Connie, Thomas, Armin, and Alphonse were impatiently waiting for them.

"Brother!"

"Eren!" The two smart, collected blonde soldiers sprinted to their friends, relieved to see there were no visual scars on either of them. "Did anything happen to you two?"

Ed solemnly nodded, making Al and Armin slightly nervous. They could see something was wrong.

"The Colossal Titan… I couldn't get it… I'm sorry," said a rather broken and despondent Eren. "You don't have anything to be sorry about," said Thomas. "You had the balls to do something none of us would think of doing in our lifetime." Despite his best efforts, Eren still remained quite gloomy, his head tilted to face the ground in shame. "Eren, feel pity for yourself another day!" Everyone was surprised to see Connie, the jokester of the group, refocus everyone. "In case you didn't notice, the gate's been smashed to tiny pieces, and the titans are gonna be entering the city within a matter of minutes. We have to act now!"

"Everybody get ready!" All 7 soldiers turned their attention to a man who was in his mid 30's, looking rather distressed about the events that had just occurred. They scrambled to form a straight line and saluted the higher-ranking officer by placing their fists over their hearts. "Dot Pixis has begun Operation Colossal Titan Response! Everyone is to report to HQ immediately."

"Yes sir!"

The 7 soldiers were briskly flying through the city to reach the headquarters, all the while witnessing the horrific and tragic panicking below. Alphonse had even seen a girl had dropped her doll, and his heart broke when he heard her innocent cries at losing an item precious to her. Next to Al, Edward Elric was not handling the situation much better. His pupils were dilated, his hands had gone cold and his breath had decreased while watching the frenzied mob trying to evacuate the city.

Ed had never seen such a scene in his life. People were cutting each other off, leaving others behind. The worst thing he saw was when a mother had her 7-year-old girl in his arms, and with the constant flow of different people, the two eventually lost each other. Ed wanted so desperately to help reunite them. He of all people knew how precious a mother was, but he knew there wasn't enough time, and the chances he would find them both were infinitesimally small.

"You're shocked at this too, right brother?"

Ed continued to stare at the ground, too rattled with what he had just been through. "It's… it's horrible. How could this happen? How can this much panic and chaos exist in this world?"

"I don't brother… I just don't know…" Eren and Armin were silently observing the Elric Brother's reaction to what they were seeing, and both were very surprised. From what they saw of the Elric brother's reaction, it appeared that they knew nothing of what this experience was like. It was like they were oblivious to this aspect of humanity, the way they herded together in fear like sheep, each covered with a layer of fear and paranoia, only bringing out even more terrible aspects of these masses of people.

"Did you ever think you would ever see Edward Elric bewildered like that?" questioned Armin.

"Never in my life," was all Eren could say. Now that Eren had recovered enough from his humiliating failure of killing the Colossal Titan, he remembered what he wanted to discuss with Armin. "Armin, I need to talk to you. It's about Ed. I found out something peculiar about him."

"Ok? What was it?" Eren shifted closer to Armin, and whispered in his ear. Armin felt Eren's breath tickle his ear. "Ed's right arm. It looked like it was covered with some sort of metal."

Armin's eyes widened as big as saucers. "Are you sure about this?"

Eren slowly nodded. "I think it went all the way up from his wrist all the way up to his elbow, but all I saw was his wrist."

Armin glanced at Edward Elric. Looks like this conundrum was slowly piecing itself together. Maybe he would finally get some answers. At least that would give him some closure and possibly help him with the complete terror he was feeling right now. The titans were invading. Just like 3 years ago.

As soon as everyone has arrived, Ed and Al sprinted to be alone, with Eren and Armin following suit. "Ok brother, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Ed put his back on the wall, sliding down the wall. "There was something too familiar about the Colossal Titan. Remember the talk we had about 6 months ago?"

Al put his hands to his mouth. "You don't think that…"

"Yes. Whatever that titan was, I can guarantee you that he was using some sort of alchemy. It was able to create an entirely new body out of thin air." Ed had seen it happen just meters away from him, and he still couldn't believe the magnitude of energy that came from that lightning. The idea of creating an entirely new body was nearly impossible, and every legitimate alchemist knew that as common knowledge. Yet this titan formed from using the elements in the air. Whoever was able to do this was clearly an alchemist on a completely different level to him and any other alchemist he had met.

"And Al, we have another problem."

"Your automail…" said Alphonse, worryingly eyeing his brother's mechanical limbs. Like his brother, he had absolutely no idea what to do about this automail. From what he gathered, it appeared that the concept of automail was foreign and advanced in this world, so he highly doubted they would find anyone so skilled. "I'm sorry brother."

"Don't be." Alphonse then asked him a question that had been nagging at the back of his head ever since he saw the gate had been broken: "Do you think we should close the gate off with our alchemy?"

Ed covered his eyes with his hands, debating on the pros and cons of doing so. "I know, I know. If this was any normal situation, or at least normal as in this was in Amestris, I would have already shut the gate. But here… Here I don't know how people will react to that. I mean, if you were these people, who you really take that kindly to two random strangers, with one who has mechanical limbs, and reveal that you have the power to deconstruct and reconstruct matter at your whim? Not to mention that the electricity released form using alchemy might be taken the wrong way from the way lightning has been used when these powerful titans arrive. But if we don't, a lot of soldiers could die…" Ed slammed his automail fist into the concrete, creating a large hole and sending mild shockwaves through the structure. "FUCK! WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO GODDAMN DIFFICULT?! WHY ARE WE CONSTANTLY FORCED WITH CHOICES WE'LL REGRET LATER ON?! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Ed was very surprised when he felt Al's arms hold onto his shoulders, swiftly shifting Ed to meet him eye-to-eye. "Brother, I know it's difficult, but you have to calm down." Ed inhaled through his nose, than exhaled through his mouth, alleviating a great deal of his tension. "Thanks Al."

"I just hope nothing bad will happen to us," said Al quietly.

"Al, no matter what happens, I will never let anything happen to you ever again."

The young Elric brother stood eye-to-eye, and shot a warm and relaxed smile; elated to know his brother would keep to his promise just by looking into his deep blue eyes. Even after the several months apart during their conflict with father, their brotherly love never diminished, and although Ed would never admit it out loud, he relished that connection just as much as Al did.

Every soldier of the Garrison regiment was attended for, positioned into tidy, uniform lines, but the shaking hands and trembling lips of most of the Garrison members showed they were more ready to shit their pants. None of them in a million years would have expected they would be unlucky enough to have to go toe-to-toe against the titans themselves. That was the job of the Survey Corps, not the Garrison. Standing on the podium as the de facto commander was Kitz Woerman, a captain of the Garrison and commander of the 1st Division Elite Force.

"Everyone will deploy into four separate squadrons! Each squadron will be tasked with individual assignments, consisting of supply raiding, message relay, and enemy combat under the direct commands of the Garrison regiment!" Edward Elric stared narrow-eyed at this pitiful display of authority. His voice may have thundered through the castle, but even a 12 year old could see the obvious signs of fear in his stature. His face was plastered with dark lines etched with fear, and his eyes were drowning everyone with even more unease and concern, sinking the already downbeat soldiers further down.

"The inner south squadron will occupy the vanguard! Any new cadets will be positioned in the middle guard and will be given aid by the support squad! The rear guard will be monitored by the elites! You will all be responsible for manning your posts, knowing that the advanced team has been mowed down!" Everyone gasped. The advanced team had been killed? They were made up of over 200 soldiers. All of them were dead?

"Yes, I'm afraid this is history being repeated once again. Given this situation, it his highly possible the Armored Titan will reappear, so that is why the Elite Squad has been placed in the Rear Guard to ensure maximum security so the inner wall will not be breached!" Murmurs and whispers were exchanged in the mass of soldiers, each of them in disbelief they were the ones who had to put their lives on the line like this. "QUIET! Those positioned in the vanguard will be responsible for defending the inner wall until the city has been evacuated! Now, let me remind you that desertion is high treason punishable by death! Dismissed!" Like fear-ridden piss-ants, the soldiers sprinted at their dismissal, some still too shocked to move. One of these soldiers was Jean, and he was none too pleased.

This shouldn't have happened. He was supposed to be at camp, waiting another a year and a half until he would move up to be part of the Military Police and live a peaceful life serving under the king in Wall Rose. He didn't belong with the rest of these people. His ears picked up on an odd sound, and turned to see a male soldier vomiting, with Christa patting his back to comfort him. Jean's face twisted in anger. He refused to see this. He walked away from the ugly scene, getting glimpses of even more cadets in fetal positions, covering their eyes in hopes they would wake up from this nightmare. During his anger walk he bumped heads with his short-time rival, the only person who could make him more pissed off than he already was.

"Get out of my way!" Jean hostilely shoved Eren off, prompting Eren to grab him by the shoulder and spin him around to face him.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"Are you joking?" Jean scoffed at Eren's idiotic question. "In case you haven't noticed, the titans have broken in, and we're the ones who have to kill their ugly asses, but nooo! You're probably dancing in joy, probably elated to know that we have to fight them!"

"Let go of my shirt, dipshit!"

"I don't give two shits about your shirt!" Ed peered just around the corner to see Jean's meltdown, and Eren managed to see Ed observing the whole scene unfolding. Somehow, Ed's stern gaze and Jean's uncontrolled rage made Eren realize something. Jean was just like him: a kid who had something to prove. Ed's look told him that he was ready to come and kick Jean's ass again, but there was no way that Eren was letting himself be saved again. Mimicking Ed's motion the day before, Eren swept his right foot under Jean's legs, knocking him off of his feet. As an added measure, Eren put his right hand dead center on Jean's chest.

"Get a hold of yourself Jean! Come on, you're a soldier! You trained 6 months for this! For 6 months you lived in hell on earth, and you made it out in one piece!" Jean stood there baffled by Eren's sudden speech that actually praised him of all things. Soldiers who were bawling their eyes out turned their heads to see what was all the commotion about. "Some couldn't handle the heat. Some wussed out to live a life of farming, others got kicked out. There were even people that died! But you made it to the top 10. You proved you're one of the best, and in the face of that, what's one day of doing something you trained 6 months to do?" Jean was at a loss for words. He'd never heard that kind of praise from anybody, and like before, he was the one who got the short end of the stick and was proven wrong. He scowled at Eren, then quickly got up and walked over to the soldier vomiting to shake him out of his episode.

"Wow Eren…" Eren felt a glove on his right shoulder and saw Ed right behind him with a teeth filled smile just for him. "You did an awesome job there. Never thought I'd here that coming for you, much less for Jean." Eren felt a blush creep up to his cheeks. He didn't know why, but every time he heard Ed give him praise, it made him feel surprisingly good inside, knowing that this badass renegade thought of him highly enough to give him praise. "Thanks…"

"Hey guys." A new character had just popped up from the hallway. Armin was standing right beside Ed, his foot tapping the ground in a frenzy and his arms crossed in impatience. "Ed, I need to talk to you." Armin couldn't believe how calm he was at this moment, or at least calm compared to a lot of the other soldiers shitting their pants. It was like having answers revealed about Ed was lessening his usually rattled nerves. "Ok then?" Armin quickly paced for a hallway, motioning Ed to come along. Ed hurriedly trailed his tail, and began to grow increasingly nervous when he saw nobody else was in the dark hallway. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Armin breathed in and out, getting ready to play a role he usually never played. He spun around to Ed, accusingly pointed his finger at Ed. "Why do you have metal in your arm?" Ed froze. Oh shit. Why did this have to happen now of all times?

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy? What kind of weirdo would have metal in their arm?" Ed innocently placed his arms in front of him and his face was raining sweat bullets in an anime style fashion. "Don't freaking lie to me! I mean this!" Ed stood absolutely petrified when Armin pulled his sleeve up to reveal his automail. "And also explain that!" Ed stared mouth agape, completely speechless when he saw Armin pull up his left leg to show his other automail. Armin inwardly sighed in relief. Although Eren had told him his arm was the limb composed of some metal, Armin had used some inductive reasoning and focused deeply to remember Ed's form with the maneuver gear. Almost every time he shifted his position, he leaned his body to his right side. Armin surmised that it wouldn't make any sense to do so if he had an uneven weight on his right arm, so the most logical hypothesis he conjured was that his leg must have had some sort of metal, and thank god he was right. "Well?"

It took Ed a few seconds to recover from his secret being discovered. It took at least a dozen seconds more to come up with a plausible explanation without explaining more than was needed. "Yeah, um I have a metal arm and leg…" Armin crossed his arms, waiting for more than just a statement of the obvious. "When I was 12, I had an accident, and I lost both my limbs as a result." Armin's features softened in pity. "I'm sorry." But his features hardened instantly. "But how could you afford that kind of surgery? I've never heard of anything as advanced as limb replacement, and even if an operation like that was possible, you'd have to be one of the richest people in the country. So how did you do it?"

"Well…" Ed nervously rubbed his neck. "My family knows a really good automail mechanic…"

"Automail?" said Armin, interrupting Ed. "What is that?"

"That's the term I use for metal limbs. Anyway, my family was close to a mechanic, and she managed to create me new automail after a few days of intense surgery."

Ed was confused when Armin stared at the ground. 30 seconds passed, and the two soldiers remained exactly as they were. Armin slapped his palms to his forehead and sighed. Everything that Ed said seemed truthful enough, and there wasn't too much Armin knew that could disprove it, but he still felt Ed wasn't telling him everything. "I take it your brother knows about it?"

"Yes."

"So does your brother have any automail like you?" For a millisecond, Armin saw deep pain flash through Ed's eyes that expressed total despondency and a pain woven deep in his soul, but it left as quickly as it came. "No, he doesn't have any automail."

Both of them fell into an awkward silence, unsure of what to say. After an eternity of uncomfortable silence, Ed finally walked to the exit of the hallway. "Come on, we have to get ready." Armin nodded and walked behind him. Ed and Armin were walking to where Eren had been, when Al came running to the two soldiers in a hurry. "Brother! Where were you?" Before Ed could answer, he overheard Eren raise his voice, and quickly raised a finger to his younger brother to silence him.

"… given a direct order! Get it together! This thing is bigger than you and me, and you know it! Humanity is hanging by a thread! Get your priorities straight!" Mikasa lowered her head in shame.

"I'm sorry. You're right Eren. I'm just a little out of it with everything that's happening." Ready to dismiss this, Eren began to leave for the city when he felt Mikasa grabbing him back. "But promise me one thing. Whatever happens, don't get yourself killed." Eren shook himself free from her hold. His eyes captured Armin and the Elric brothers and he gradually walked over to them. "Come on guys. We deploy to the middle guard, so lets not waste time."

Eren stomped off in minor frustration at Mikasa's persistence of babying him, and began heading for the middle guard. Eren, like his 3 friends, was deep in his self-thoughts. 'I wasn't planning on becoming titan food today anyway Mikasa. I'm won't allow myself to get killed. No until I get a taste of the life outside of these fucking walls.'

Armin and Alphonse hastily joined him, but as Ed was about to go with them, he felt himself being hoisted back by Mikasa. "I'm sorry Ed, but I don't know who else to turn to."

"Mikasa, what are you..."

"Your different. I've seen the way you talk with Eren, and I see the way he admires your abilities. I'm in shock at how much he's opened up to you. I could see it in his eyes this morning. His eyes were brighter, more relieved and relaxed than I've seen them in a long time, and I didn't have to ask him if he told you about the day in Shiganshina. You had that same look, and I just knew he told you.

Mikasa sighed. "I know I haven't talked to you alot, and I'm not the kind of person who socializes with others, but I want you to do something for me."

"Brother! Come on, lets go!"

"You go with them! I'll catch up in a minute!" Ed waved his hand and signaled Al to go on without him, and Al hesitantly complied, leaving Ed and Mikasa by themselves.

"You and your brother, you have something really special..."

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

"Nothing. Anyway, there's only one thing I want you to do for me: keep Eren alive. He likes you, and your one of the best soldiers I've ever met. Please, make sure Eren makes it out of this in one piece." Mikasa looked down, embarrassed at the flood of emotions threatening to rise.

Ed's face softened at the raw emotion and fear laced in her voice. Her affection for Eren must run unimaginably deep for her to come to Ed to make a promise like this. Ed placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes toned to a genuine empathy. "I promise you that nothing is going to happen to Eren Yeager. I swear to you."

She tilted her head back up, nominally surprised at Ed's stoic but compassionate eyes. Now that she was able to see Ed at such a close level, she could kind of understand why Eren would obsess over him. It was as if Ed could somehow comprehend what she was going through.

"Thank you Ed."

"Well, I have to go join Eren and the others in the Middle Guard. Make sure you don't die on me ok?" Ed ran off before Mikasa could even answer. Mikasa's mouth perched up just the tiniest fraction possible. "I won't."

* * *

The 4 soldiers stared out into the vast horizon of empty houses and deserted alleyways. Beside them were Thomas, Mina, and 5 other soldiers unfamiliar with them. Today was the day. Today they would actually be the first wave to combat the invading titans for the 2nd time in known human history. "Come on guys, look on the bright side. When we make it through today, we'll be freaking legends. Before we know it, we'll bypass all the rankings, and probably even get to lead our own regiments." Eren's upbeat talk lightened the mood of the group and each of them smiled dazzlingly. The older Elric brother slung his arm around Eren's shoulder. "That's right Eren. I'm with you all the way."

"Me too."

"Count me in," said Alphonse and Armin. "Don't think I'm letting you hog all the glory," said Thomas. "I'll be the one who takes home the gold medal today."

"How about whoever gets the most titan kills gets to be king of the group?" joked Ed. "It's on. But better be sure you don't lie, cus I'll know."

"Group 34, move out! The vanguard needs support!"

"Alright givem hell!" The cadets roared in unison. Pumped up with adrenaline, they shot into the sky and soared to search for their first titan kills. However just as Al was about to shoot into the sky, his brother halted him. Al was about to protest his brother's actions, but reprimanded himself when he saw how serious Ed seemed to be. "Al, remember, no matter what happens, I will never let anything happen to you. You understand?" Al sheepishly grinned and nodded in confirmation. Ed returned the kindness and smiled back. "Then lets kill some titans!" The soldiers sped across the town, the whirring of gas and the scent of flames only moistening the atmosphere with apprehension.

But all that built up confidence went up in flames as soon as they saw the titans first-hand. The titan horde was surrounded by smoke and ash as they voraciously searched for humans to devour.

"There's no way there could be that many."

"The vanguard must have been completely overwhelmed."

"There's no way." With their confidence now drained, the soldiers were wallowing in their own fear. The situation they were in rapidly sank into their skulls. The Elric brothers however remained determined and sharp due to having been in several of these confrontations in their adolescent life, and they involuntarily barked out orders. "Mina, Thomas, and Hemsworth take out the titans to your left! Armin and Eren go with Al and me for the titans in the middle, and the rest of you go for the titans on the far right! Go!" The soldiers followed the commands and each flew for their titans.

Ed golden hair shimmered in the sunlight, but his blue eyes were darkened by his instincts to kill. He was going to kill whatever or whoever would hurt his friends or family. He spotted the first titan and raised his speed in an attempt to catch him by surprise. This proved successful as the titan did not realize Ed's presence until he felt a prick at the nape of his neck. He turned his head but sadly was too late to save himself as the two blades sliced open the searing hot flesh from his body. The titan dropped to his knees, and fell down to his death. Ed clenched his hands above his head and roared in triumph.

"I GOT THE FIRST TITAN KILL! TRY TO KEEP UP YOU GUYS!"

"Excellent work brother! You did an amazing jo-," was all the young Elric brother said before a titan sank his teeth into the Elric brother's flesh.

* * *

 _Cliff-hanger. Guess you'll have to wait until next chapter to find out what happens. For Armin, some of you might find it out of character for him to be so bold or rather curious about Ed, but I've decided to make Armin a bit more tenacious and willing to find out answers to things he doesn't know about. Hope you enjoyed!_


	11. The Steel Heart Melted

"Excellent work brother! You did an amazing jo-," was all the young Elric brother said before a titan sank his teeth into the Elric brother's flesh.

Ed's heart felt like it had been ripped out from his body and torn apart in front of his eyes just looking at Al being swallowed by the titan. At that moment, something inside him snapped. It was as if every painful moment he had buried and covered up deep in his mind were resurfacing, joining together into one enormous cloud of anger and fury. All Ed knew was that he wasn't going to let Al get eaten. Over his dead body.

* * *

Ed and Alphonse left before the rest of the cadets had a chance to respond. Here they were, most of them wanting to piss their pants and hide in a corner, while these two actually had the balls to rally everyone and take charge. Even Eren, the titan-lusting soldier, wasn't expecting it. Just as Eren and Armin were about to join them, Eren's precautious eyes spotted an abnormal jumping like a spider and headed straight for them.

"ABNORMAL HEADED FOR US! HIT THE DECKS!" Everyone speedily jumped out of harms way. The abnormal titan with blonde wavy hair pounced and landed on the clock tower, oddly wrapping his arms and legs around it.

"Is everyone alright?"

"I think we made it," said Armin, his voice just above a faint whisper.

"Wait, where's Thomas?"

The soldiers searched around, wondering where Thomas had landed, but Eren knew better. The abnormal titan moved its head to look at the soldiers, in its mouth none other than Thomas.

"Eren, Armin, anyone… Please… Help… Me…" Those were Thomas' last words before he was swallowed whole. The abnormal dropped down and walked on, as if he hadn't noticed a thing.

Eren's body went stiff at the sight of Thomas' tear stained eyes staring right at him just before he died. The hatred boiling within him surged forward, his face lined with malice and hatred. "BASTARD!" Without warning, Eren practically exploded forward with intent to kill. "Eren!" Armin worriedly jumped off the wall and went after his friend. "Guys we have to stay together!" The other soldiers swiftly followed suit, ignoring Ed's orders.

"GET BACK HERE! I'M NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY LIKE THAT! YOU'LL PAY FOR KILLING MY FRIEND!" Raw emotion, pain, and unmitigated fury were laced in Eren's words. He shot himself forward even faster, drawing his blades as he did.

"DIE!"

Eren had been so blinded by rage that he failed to notice the 7-meter titan jump up and voraciously bite him. Eren's trajectory was completely thrown off, his body rolling and crashing over the tiles of a dozen houses, until he finally came to a stop; bloody, injured, and defeated, he laid limp, unable to move even his fingers. He was sure he had broken a rib or two, and his head felt like it was gonna explode.

So this was how it ended. Wasted, left for dead, alone, eaten by titans as he slowly died from his injuries, not even having the chance to quench his thirst for titan blood.

Just as he was about to pass out, Eren heard the heart-wrenching cry of Edward Elric.

* * *

"AL!" Ed's voice was barely human. Propelling himself as fast as humanly possible, he slashed his blades through the nape of the neck. He had never felt such blind rage toward another being in his life. Even after the titan had collapsed, Ed continued to stab the titan in its head, hacking away at its scalp until there was nothing left. It wasn't enough. He wanted more. He wanted to make this titan bastard pay for hurting his little brother, and he continued to stab and slash at every part he could, until the titan was severed into at least 50 pieces. The blood stained Ed's clothes, but seconds later it evaporated like it was never there.

Ed frantically began to dig through the already disappearing flesh for his brother like a dog searching for it's bone. Ed finally found Al stuck in the throat of the titan. Was he dead? No, he refused to believe he was gone. Making sure "you-know-what" didn't happen, he put his ear to his brother's heart. The slow thumping made him sigh a breath of relief.

Ed was panting heavily, the rush of adrenaline from his first titan kill still pumping through his heart. Quickly realizing his brother was still missing his arm and leg, he sprinted to his side, his deep blue eyes now misty with wet eyes. "Al, are you alright?" Nothing. "Al, SAY SOMETHING!" Still nothing but silence. A single tear slid down his cheek, and Ed did nothing to stop it. At that moment, only one thing was racing through Ed's mind: Ed had broken his promise.

The one thing he had promised his brother, the one and only thing he told himself every day of his life ever since their human transmutation was that he was never going to let anything happen to his little brother, and he'd broken it. Like the self-centered asshole he was, he had made his little brother, an innocent kind soul, believe that he was safe under his big brothers protection. He had tricked him and deceived him, just like when he brought him into his stupid idea to bring their mom back. Nonetheless, Ed knew he had to reattach his limbs. Even if Al hated him for the rest of his life, Ed knew it was the right thing and only thing he could and would do.

Ed gripped his hair, trying to think of what to do. There was no medical procedure that could reattach limbs, and even if there was,it would take too long for him to find help for his little brother. But wait! His face lit up when he remembered he still had his alchemy. He knew all too well that reattaching the limbs was possible; he even had living proof that it was: Scar. He had been told that Scar's brother had sacrificed his right arm and attached it onto his brother with no side effects whatsoever. If Scar's brother could do it, then Ed could too.

Wasting no time, Ed scavenged his brother's limbs, which were thankfully intact with no broken bones or torn muscle tissue. "This could work. I could actually save both my brother's limbs." Whatever it took, Ed would pay the price.

"God I hope this works." If Al didn't make it through this, Ed didn't know how he would ever recover. So he took a very deep breath, and clapped his hands together, the cackling of electric energy and hint of ozone saturating the air around him. Electricity began to course through the dismembered body part. Ed gasped. The arm stub and the arm flesh were intertwining, the nerve endings reconnecting sending jolts of neural electricity through Al's unconscious brain.

Ed stayed frozen. The two had seemingly joined together, and with the reconnection came a light scar circling around his arm. He wanted to make sure the transmutation reconnection worked; so ever so lightly, he tugged his right arm to see if it would come off, and to his extreme relief, it didn't tear an inch.

Filled with newborn confidence, Ed moved over to fix his right leg. He clapped his hands together and watched the muscle ligaments twist and intertwine with each other, becoming a single whole once more.

* * *

All the while, Eren was watching this with one eye open. The impact of the fall must have given him a concussion, because there was no way anything of what he saw was real.

If his eyes weren't deceiving him, he was looking at Alphonse Elric with both his right arm and right leg torn off his body, then his brother reattaching them both just by clapping his hands together. Not only that, but some weird electricity came sparking out of the ground when he did it. Eren must have been hallucinating, because there was no way in a million years something like that could have been possible.

"Ed… You're just… Full… Of… Surprises…"

* * *

The older Elric brother didn't move a muscle. His eyes were focused on nothing but his younger brother. A minute had passed since he reattached his brother's limbs, and Al still remained unconscious. "Come on Al. Please wake up…"

Alphonse's eyes gradually fluttered open, and he was awoken to see his older brother kneeling on his right side, looking like he had just witnessed a miracle. "Brother?"

"AL!" This time it was Alphonse who was completely winded by his brother's tight grip on him as Ed wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you're okay!" The young Elric brother rubbed his head, trying to remember exactly how he got his brother this worried over him. "Brother, what happened?"

"After I killed my first titan, I let my guard down and you paid the ultimate price…" Al tilted his head, not understanding what his brother meant. "While I was distracted, a titan pounced from out of nowhere and… ripped both your arm and leg off…" Ed's body was trembling; his human fingers ice cold and his face ghostlypale. "I was able alchemically reconnect your limbs before it was too late, but you almost…" Al jaw dropped open when he saw Ed was actually crying. Ed's tears were falling onto Al's uniform, and his entire body was shaking. Al couldn't believe it.

In all his years spent together with Ed, he had rarely if not ever seen his brother crying. There were sometimes that Ed's true feelings ever showed, when he was able to show his true colors, but those were luxurious moments that were often forgotten. It was only now, seeing Ed's face littered with tears, that it truly registered how much he meant to his older brother. If he felt happy before when his brother had vowed he would protect him, it was nothing compared to the feeling of euphoria and happiness rushing through him. Not wanting to waste a second of this moment, Al returned his brothers embrace, tightly wrapping his arms around his chest as the metallic and sharp smell of his automail filled his nostrils. Ed's eyes widened at the unexpected return of an embrace, but he eventually gave in and firmly grasped his brother.

Eren watched this entire emotional scene unfold with a sense of sadness and longing in his heart. Whoever or whatever these two really were, the one thing he did know for sure about the two of them was that they had each other.

* * *

 _"BROTHER!"_

 _That was all Ed could process before he was thrown into a bear hug aimed around his chest that winded him to the ground, tensing his already stone stiff muscles._

 _"Jeez Al! Calm down! It was just a run! I'm alright!"_

 _The young Elric brother quickly released himself from his older brother. "I know. I'm sorry brother, but its just that I didn't know if you would be alright after running for a fourth of the day. I didn't know what would happen to you…" said Al as he shrunk down on the ground, hands trembling as he did so._

 _Hiding under the shadows of the cabin, Eren watched this scene unfold, knowing full well he was slightly intruding. His patience had run thin waiting for Ed in the mess hall._

 _Eren had been eagerly waiting for Ed to arrive, his tapping feet and jittery hands making that obvious to Armin and anyone else who would have bothered to pay attention. After everyone had finished asking him about his experience in Shiganshina, he had uncannily excused himself to go to the bathroom and went out in search of the infamous Edward Elric._

 _His search turned out successful when he finally found Ed finishing his last lap. He was about to run and introduce himself, but the introduction of Al's younger brother halted his actions. Feeling it would be odd to intrude at a time like that, he turned around to return to the mess hall, when Ed groaned in exhaustion, prompting him to see what happened. He had not expected Alphonse to tackle him to the ground in a bear hug. His curiosity overcame his respect for privacy and he watched and heard everything they were saying._

 _He heard them talk about their teacher and her training, surprised that they had training before this, but what really confused him was that he heard a word he had never heard before. He thought very hardly on what it could mean, but alas, nothing came to him. But the thing that really caught him off guard was the overwhelming worry in Al's eyes and words._

 _Seeing the way Al wasn't afraid to show how he felt about his brother made him feel a sense of nostalgia and devastating guilt. How many times had he been too embarrassed, vainglorious, or stubborn to accept his mother's love and affection towards him? Had there ever been a single moment in his life when he ever showed the feelings of love he had for her mother?_

 _He closed his eyes and forced back tears. Crying would only make him weaker and he was pretty sure he would get beaten up if any tough-guy cadets caught him crying like a pussy. The rapid footsteps of the two Elric brothers snapped him out of his emotional drama. As quietly as he humanly could, he sprinted for the mess hall, trying to forget what he saw as if it never happened._

* * *

The memory of that night came flooding back to him, and it only amplified the feelings of pain and guilt vested in the depths of his heart. He didn't deserve anyone's affection, especially his mother's. "Mom, I'm sorry…"

As if things couldn't get any worse, the ceiling tiles under him started to shake. He looked up and to his horror saw a 10-meter titan with a gray beard closing in on Edward and Alphonse. This could not be happening… "Ed…" His throat was raspy and in pain, and his body still felt like a disarray of bloody bones and torn muscles. "Ed…" For whatever reason, Ed and Al were too caught up in their heart-warming reunion to feel or hear the titan approaching with nothing or nobody to stop it.

The titan now stood just meters away, and its hand gradually started reaching out for Ed. "ED! BEHIND YOU!"

The voice of Eren Yeagar broke through to Ed's hearing, and he turned around to see a titan towering over him, his hand stretched out. "Shit!" This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Ed's metallic limbs were still causing him a great deal of pain, and as the hours passed by, it was becoming increasingly difficult to move, hindering his reflexes and mobility a great deal. There was nothing he could to to save his brother or himself.

The titan now gripped his fingers around the young human, preparing itself for it's 10th victim. Ed all the while shouted as he banged his fists on the titan's hand, squirming in his grasp, trying to do anything he could to escape.

"BROTHER!" Al desperately tried to get up, but he winced in pain, his right arm and leg sending out wave after wave of pain through his body. Without either his right leg or right arm, Al couldn't use his gear to kill the titan. Al was standing and watching the people he loved die, just like he always did.

Ed was now in the mouth of the titan. He couldn't grip himself on anything. He couldn't do anything but slide down the throat to his inevitable death. So this is how it ended. Dying in the belly of a beast; leaving his brother alone without his brother or anyone to help him; not even having the chance to look at Winry, Teacher, and even Mustang one last time to tell them he was ok. What an end. "Goodbye Winry…"

But then, a hand reached out to him. "Al?" Ed couldn't believe his eyes it when he saw Eren Yeagar, bloody and infuriated, holding the jaws of the beast open and saving him from his certified death. But Ed's face darkened in horror when he noticed Eren's left leg was nothing but a bloody stump. It must have been bitten off by a titan before Eren even had a chance to react.

Mustering all the energy he could, he pulled Ed out from the throat and threw him straight out of the titan's mouth. "EREN!"

Eren pried open the jaws of the titan, his face stained with blood and saliva.. "I'm refuse to die like this."

"Come on Eren! Reach for my hand!" Ed reached his hand for Eren and desperately reached as far as he could, refusing to let his friend die like this. "Eren listen. We're going to get out of these walls. See the world outside the walls…"

"WE WILL EREN! I PROMISE WE WILL! JUST GRAB ON! GRAB-" Eren didn't even have the time to say goodbye before the titan clamped his teeth shut, taking his arm in the process.

* * *

 _You know I would never be so heartless to kill Al like that. He's too sweet for that kind of death. This ending is like a repeat of the anime, so not really that surprising._

 _I'm sorry if this was a short chapter, but it was harder than usual for me to write this chapter. If your wondering why it took me longer to upload this chapter, I'm writing another fanfiction write now, called The Space Emperor's Besiege, and I try to work on both of them, which is kinda challenging to do in a shorter time period. I'd like to thank GoldenLombaxGirl and Rini x Ryo for your kind and thoughtful reviews. Really lifts my day up. Hope you enjoyed!_


	12. Fight to Live, or Live to Fight

_You thought I had abandoned the story huh? It took me a while, but I eventually managed to get my ideas all in writing. To my loyal reviewers and readers, I am so sorry it took me this long for me to update. I'll try to improve my updating time. So to compensate for my late release date, this chapter is going to be VERY long, in fact the longest chapter I've written so far. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Ed didn't even have the time to say goodbye before the titan clamped its teeth shut, taking Eren's arm in the process. If Ed wasn't mortified, he might have actually chuckled at the cruelly ironic notion: Eren losing his right arm and left leg, just like him, and just like his brother had almost lost at the hands of a titan.

Ed's mind and body were completely out of sync, his body unable to move, the shock from Eren's death was rendering him immobile, but his mind was screaming, trying to force his body to join in and save Eren's life. It was a futile attempt; Ed had expended the last of energy saving his little brother, and his automail was still in desperate need of repairs, rendering his mobility to a useless state.

His body didn't move an inch. Ed couldn't save Eren this time. No matter how much he wished, his automail had stiffened up, overworked from intense rain, scorching heat, and endless wear from the months of heavy training. This, coupled with the shock he was going through at that moment, rendered him immobile. It was uncanny of him to be willing to give up like this, but it was simply too much for Ed to take in.

* * *

Alphonse Elric lay still, unable to do anything to help Eren escape the wretched abyss of the titan's stomach. Al truly thought he could save his friends; he had tried so hard to prevent any more deaths, to be strong for those who were close to him, but he couldn't keep true to his word. His heart was pounding, his chest constricting, praying that somehow Ed would be spared, that the titan wouldn't consume Ed.

But the titan had other plans in mind that did not involve the Elric brothers. Whether it was because he had his fill of humans for the time being, or because he was bored, who knew, but the titan lumbered off, leaving Edward Elric alone to lament the death of his friend.

His younger brother wasn't faring much better. His limbs were killing him due to the alchemical reconnection. Had an experienced alkahester done the operation, they would have been able to more expertly relink the nerve endings, but given Ed's lack of knowledge of alkehestry and of the human body, his nervous system was still recalibrating itself with the reconnected limbs. So mustering all the strength he could, he shot the hook for the roof and his lifeless body was heaved up into the air, throwing him about 3 feet from the place where his brother was sulking. Seeing the palpable pain consuming his brother, he slowly crawled to where his brother laid and placed his arms around his shoulders, staying in silence while his brother mourned the death of Eren Yeager.

Edward Elric had never been a social person. His time alone with only his brother, his mom, and Winry to talk with hadn't improved his social skills, and because of this, there were rather few people who he could ever really connect with, but with Eren, he felt something click. He could see it in Eren's eyes that he was a fighter. Even when every odd was against him, he never caved in to the pressure and refused to let himself be treated like a child. He would tackle every problem head on, never backing off, constantly trying to improve in whatever areas he was weak in whatever skill he was taught, and Ed respected that. He respected that because he saw that spark of fire resemble the flames of passion and dedication within himself. Only through his death could Ed truly realize this and truly understand the depth of this mutual friendship.

* * *

Armin Arlert was a complete and utter mess. The stream of gasoline burst through the sky as he was flying through the air. He was absolutely ashamed of himself. His friends had all died at the hands of titans, he'd lost sight of Eren as soon as he went after the abnormal titan that killed Thomas, and all he could think of doing was retreating. His body was the body of a pathetic, spineless weakling. Even after all the training he had gone through, he still couldn't hold a finger to the titans. Eren and Mikasa had always been there to back him up; to lend him the strength and support he didn't have. They could because they were strong. They understood what this world was like, this hell on earth.

At this point, all he wanted to do was find Eren, Ed, and Alphonse to regroup and see who was left of their division. He desperately searched for any trace of them, until he finally found Ed perched on a ledge, his brother sitting right beside him. As he began to draw closer, he noticed Ed was staring at his hands with a look of what seemed to be conviction.

With caution in his movements, he glided over to the Elric brothers. Alphonse worriedly looked up to see who just arrived, but Ed was still in a deep trance. "Ed!" Armin shook Ed's shoulders, promptly snapping Ed out of his self-imposed trance. "Ed, are you alright? What happened to you?"

"I couldn't save him… I just let him die…" mumbled Ed.

"What was that? Where's Eren?" Ed shuddered at the sound of Eren's name. Ed forcibly craned his neck upward to meet Armin's gaze, and Armin's heart dropped down to his stomach just from the look in Ed's eyes. Ed had been dreading having to tell Armin about what happened, and even know he was still surprised he was so emotionally calm. "Armin…"

"No…" Ed didn't even need to tell him because Ed's eyes said it all. "Eren…"

"He saved me… I was about to be swallowed whole by a titan, and just as I'd given up any hope of survival, he grabbed my arm and threw me out. I tried to pull him out, I reached out, but I couldn't do it… I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to save him… I'm so sorry Armin."

Overwhelmed from the grandiose bearing of this news and the weight of his entire division's death, Armin lost balance on his feet and fell to his knees. "Eren…"

Tears began to roll down Armin's face like a river of agony coursing and washing over his entire body, drowning him in its unyielding suffrage. But at the moment, the biggest thing going through their minds wasn't Eren's death: it was how they would tell Mikasa. The mere thought of Mikasa's face was enough to rock them to the core. He had promised her. Ed had looked her in the eyes, and told him with all of his heart that Eren wouldn't be killed, that he would look out for his safety when Mikasa couldn't. Could Ed even muster the courage to stand, knowing the mournful news he had to bear?

No. He forced himself onto his feet, pushing himself off the ground despite how much he wanted to stay on the cold rooftop and wallow in his agony. Eren would want him to stand back up again and fight no matter what was in the way. Whether he wanted to or not, it was his responsibility and his alone to tell Mikasa what happened. Then he would find the titan that ate Eren and chop him up into bite-sized bits.

"Armin. We have to go rendezvous with the rear guard." Ed's voice was just barely above a hoarse whisper. "Our squad's been taken out. There's nothing more we can do here. Do you think you can stand?"

Armin didn't respond to Ed but rather, he slowly stood up, still looking at the roof in a daze. "Al, are your limbs alright?"

"I… I think I'm better now." Alphonse gradually pushed himself off the ground. After spending much of his time in the same position, he felt his body had gained enough time to readjust.

"Brother, you'll need somebody to help carry you."

Ed sighed, knowing his little brother was right. He would rather avoid it, but he needed some assistance to help carry him. "Armin, I need you and Al's help to carry me while we're in the air. It will still take some time for me to recuperate from my exhausted state, and my current speed is too sluggish and misdirected to effectively travel. So if you can, can you please help me?"

Armin somewhat snapped out of his self-thought and looked at Ed with a more serious attitude. "What do you need me to do?"

"Al, I need you to wrap your arm around my right arm. Armin you do the same with my opposite arm."

Both quickly complied, intertwining their limbs together and firmly locking their hands around Ed's upper torso. "This is good enough. Let's go."

The three cadets flew off into the now cloud-covered sky, none of them uttering a single word.

Though none of the three could identify it, all three of them were loathing themselves. From their perspective, each of them had failed. Each one of them was unable to muster up the strength, whether it be physical or mental, to stand up and fight against the titans, and each act in their eyes had gotten their friends killed. Each one of them was wondering if the other would ever talk to them again, and were literally drowning themselves with negative thoughts of disgrace and shame.

* * *

"Excellent job, Ackerman. I'm impressed."

The refreshing drizzle of rain swept over Trost district, putting out the steam forming from the now dead abnormal titan slayed by none other than Mikasa herself. If she hadn't been there, the rash actions of an asshole superior would have gotten hundreds of innocent women and children killed.

"I could have been more precise. The angle of my attack dulled my blades considerably. If I make mistakes like that, I'll pay a high price."

"Your too tough on yourself. I mean how do you do it? Here you are, a kid facing the nightmares known as the titans, and you aren't even scared."

"No, not really…" Not in the mood to strike up a conversation with her superior and feeling the cold rain drizzling on her, she covered her nose and mouth with her shirt.

Sudden thoughts of her family flashed through her mind. Why did they have to pop up at a time like this? Her mind wandered back to that fateful day when her entire world collapsed. That horrifying day when her entire family was slaughtered like animals.

The monumental pain she experienced on that day never faded. She wasn't and would never be the same innocent, playful girl she once was. All that remained was a shallow whisper of her former self. If there was anything she had learned from the 5 years of disdainful horrors she had been through, it was that life was cruel. The only way to survive in it was to fight.

The cold steel of her blades swiped through the titan's nape. Her face remained stoic and cool as if titan killing was mere child's play. She then scanned the vicinity and found nothing but titan corpses and steam rising from their deceased bodies.

The inner gate slowly started to descend, and Mikasa's superior officer, Ian Dietrich, quickly went over to Mikasa.

"Looks like our work here is finished. Mikasa, scale the wall. We're finished here."

"I should help the Vanguard evacuate the district." Igniting her gasoline canisters, she shot for the Vanguard, not willing to wait for her superior's opinion on the matter."

She was unsure why, but somehow, she felt that hopeless, dreary feeling crawling up her spine a few hours ago, and that despondent feeling was only getting stronger by the minute. She couldn't explain it, but all she knew was she had to get back to Eren. As long as Eren was in her life, she had the will to fight.

* * *

"Jean, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"There's nothing left we can do."

The soldiers of the Garrison regiment were all mourning the deaths of their comrades; each slouched and huddled in terror and defeat. None of them in a million years thought the situation would become this dire and hopeless.

"I can't believe this is how I'm going out… All because of those fucking spineless cowards."

"You're talking about the supply squad?" Connie clenched his fists in anger. "What the hell is going on with them? Why haven't they shown up yet?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jean pointed toward the headquarters swarming with titans. "The soldiers lost their will to carry out their orders and thought they'd be better off barricading themselves inside the HQ. Not only that, but given the fact the damn titans have the place surrounded, we can't even get the gas ourselves."

"So what the hell are we doing on the roof? We're sitting ducks here. If we attack them head on, we'll at least be using what little gas we have left to thin their numbers, and at least then we might have a chance of getting inside HQ!"

"You're using your head for once. I'm impressed. But I'm just not confident that we have the skills or the manpower needed to pull this off. Most if not all of the vanguard and veteran soldiers have either retreated or been killed, and all we've got left are a bunch of half-rate soldiers who've all probably pissed their pants at the first sight of a titan.

"Lets assume that even half of us make it, and that's the best case scenario. What then? By now, the supply room must be swarming with titans ranging from 4 meters to 10 meters."

Connie's eyes darkened, and his face contorted with distress. "So it really is hopeless…"

Jean covered his face with his right hand, bemoaning his seemingly inevitable fate. "What a dull life this turned out to be. I never even had the chance to tell her how I really feel."

A few feet away, Sasha Blouse, being the optimistic and idiotic louse she was, began to try and rally up the emotionally defeated soldiers. "Come on guys! If we all join together, we can stick it to the titans and make it through to HQ! Armin! Ed! Al! Marco!"

Armin, Ed, and Alphonse had arrived only a few minutes before. They scanned and were attempting to search for Mikasa and anyone else from their corps that was still alive, but when she was nowhere to be found, Ed quietly walked to the wall and slouched on the ground, with Armin joining him and Alphonse putting his arm around his brother's shoulder for reassurance.

"Yo Ed! What's the matter with you?" yelled Reiner, who was rather shocked at Ed's moping attitude. Bertolt had also noted this, but decided it was better to stay quiet. Even Annie wasn't expecting to find Ed in such a decrepit state.

Alphonse waved his hand to them and motioned to them that now wasn't the best time. Reiner nodded and looked back to the lifeless, grey horizon.

This time it was Annie's turn to speak. "Reiner, should we move out?"

Reiner shook his head in disapproval. "We should wait until everybody snaps out of it and decide to regroup.

"It doesn't matter." All three cadets turned when they heard Marco speak. "Whether or not they man up to the task, the situation's not going to change. I've come to accept my fate, and if you were smart, you guys should too…"

"Annie!"

The soldiers looked up from their defeated poses and were shocked to see Mikasa. She had been deployed to the Rear Guard, so why would she be here of all places? She should have had enough gas to scale the wall, so what kept her tied down to this hellhole?

"I know it's rather selfish of me to ask this, but has anyone seen Eren's squad?"

Annie pointed in the direction of the Elric brothers and Armin. "They just came a few minutes ago, and they were asking where you were."

"Ed! Armin! Alphonse!"

Their eyes all widened when they heard her voice laced with concern for Eren. Ed's hands were shaking at a frantic rate. He'd been spending these last few minutes trying to figure out how he would break this horrific news, but hearing Mikasa's voice nearly ripped him in half.

"Ed! Armin! Alphonse!" She quickly ran over to them with a concerned expression on her face. "Are all three of you alright? Did you get any injuries?" She bent down and looked at all three of them and found nothing damaged. Standing back up, she looked around to see if she could find the person missing from this picture. "Where's Eren?"

All three held their breath. Al was the first to look at Mikasa, then Armin, who was stained with tears falling down his face. Finally, Ed swallowed hard before Ed tilted his head up to look at her, his lips quivering as he did so.

Mikasa froze and stared in disbelief. No…

The emotional grief pent up in Ed finally broke through in the form of tears.

The cadets of Squad 34: Thomas Wagner, Nack Tierce, Milieus Zeremski, Mina Caroline, and Eren Yeager. "These 5 soldiers nobly died in the field of battle and upheld their duties as soldiers of the Garrison regiment." Ed closed his eyes as he spoke and quickly brought his head down in utter shame. He was usually collected and calm for the most part, refusing to display these tears that were showing now, but this was more than even he could hold.

"I couldn't keep my promise Mikasa. I swore that I would protect Eren, and I let him die. I watched like a worthless coward. It should have been me." Armin soon followed suit and began to silently bawl like a child, and Al became misty-eyed looking at the palpable pain his brother was in.

The other soldiers began murmuring comments of disbelief and hopelessness. Almost all of them were thinking the same thing: if Eren's squad got killed, they'd be killed just as easily.

Ed waited for the sobs, a hard slap to the face, a shove, anything. He deserved a punishment 100 times more terrible for letting Eren died. So imagine the surprise Ed felt when he felt a hand reach out to his own.

"Ed, snap out of it. Don't get all huffed up and melodramatic on me. We need you. Now, on your feet. Armin, Alphonse, same goes for you. "

The three of them gradually got up from their seated positions. Armin and Ed were confused at her stoic response to this, but Alphonse was absolutely mortified by it. He wished she had cried, screamed, fallen to the floor, because at least then he knew she could still feel.

He had seen that look on his brother daily after their failed attempt at reviving their mother. It was the look of a cold, empty soul, with no reason or drive left to stand, no will to go on. It took Ed at least three months for that look to fade, and during that time he'd done barely anything, not going outside more than twice week, spending all of his time in his room, practicing how to walk and move around with his automail. Mikasa had never been interactive during the time he knew her, and now that he dwelled on it, she had always acted nearly identically to how Ed had been. The look in Mikasa's eyes was like this, but now multiplied by 10.

"Marco, if we could somehow eliminate the hordes of titans surrounding HQ, we could refuel our gear and scale the wall, is that correct?

"Uhh… I guess, but their sheer number outweighs our skills by too large a margin. Not even your abilities could save us…"

"Your wrong. I'm strong, the strongest member of the 104th training corps. Nobody can come even close to matching me. Every titan that has the misfortune of meeting will get a one-way ticket to hell." She unsheathed her blade and pointed to all her peers in a condescending manner. "Ed, you disappoint me. Not once have you ever cowered like this and huddled in the corner like a kid in a timeout. The same goes for all of you. As far as I'm concerned, you'd serve just as well in the titan's stomach than out here, because either way, you're doing nothing. You're all twiddling your thumbs and waiting to die like a bunch of cowards. Well I'm going to do something about it, even if I have to do it myself."

The shouts of objection began to ring out. "Mikasa, that's crazy!"

"You won't make it closer than 50 yards before you get killed by a titan!

"You'll die!"

Mikasa turned and stared at the HQ. "Maybe. If I don't make it, then I don't make it. But if I make it, I'll live. The only way to survive in this world is to fight."

Before anyone could stop her, she jumped off of the roof and soared off for HQ, her killing instincts teeming like never before.

The soldiers continued to stare in the same spot where Mikasa had been, as if they had simply imagined the whole scene play out only in their head.

Ed, however, was staring at the ground, his eyes covered with darkness. "Brother…"

"She's right!"

Everyone turned to Ed with slacked jaws. "Did you bust a fuse like Mikasa?" said Connie.

"If Eren ever found me sitting on my ass like this, he'd kick my cracker teeth in and hang me over the top of Wall to feed the titans. If I can stand, if I can move, then I can fight. The rest of you who have the balls to get up from your spots are more than welcome to come. Otherwise, I'll be going with Mikasa."

Jean clenched his teeth in anger. "Damn it… Edward Elric, I swear to god when this is over, I'll kick your ass for getting me into this. I blame all of this on you and Eren. You mother fuckers…

"Well?! We weren't trained just to let our comrades fight alone like cowards! If you are a coward, then stay out of my way and let the real men handle this!" Jean sprinted off for the HQ, with Connie Springer following him with a grimace on his face.

"Never thought I'd here those words come out of his mouth," said Reiner. "Well, let's get a move on…" One by one, the soldiers finally decided to get their act together and with a unified shout, all of them together surged forward to retake their HQ.

Ed swiftly turned to his little brother. "Al, you have enough gasoline to scale the wall. I want you to retreat."

The young Elric brother didn't budge an inch. "Sorry brother. If you want to stop me, you'll have to pry the maneuver gear from my iron grip."

"Al, I would never forgive myself if anything else happened to you…

"And if you died? You think I could live with the fact I stood on the sidelines and watched my older brother die? I'm going, whether you like it or not."

Ed looked away, knowing that it was pointless to argue with him anymore. Sighing in exasperation, he motioned his brother along. "Well then let's go. We can't leave Mikasa waiting. You coming Armin?"

Armin quickly wiped away his tears with his arm, than nodded to Ed. "Lets go."

The three soon caught up to the front of the pack, where Mikasa was leading along with Connie and Jean trailing closely behind her. A 14-meter titan stood dead center in front of them, "Mikasa's like a fullmetal badass! Look at her speed."

Armin, Alphonse, and Ed however only grew concerned. At the speed she was going, she was expending too much gas. If she kept going like this…

Before they knew it, they could see the exhaust vent of the #d maneuver gear peter out, and Mikasa fell swiftly to the roof with a thud, rolling off onto the ground as she stayed motionless.

"Mikasa!" Armin speedily splintered off from the group.

"Damn it!" said Jean.

"Jean, you lead the group! I'll go after Mikasa!" shouted Connie.

"Brother, I'll go too! You should stay with Jean and both of you lead the rest to HQ!"

"No Al! I won't let you…" Alphonse sped away with Connie and Armin before Ed could even object. As much as he hated separating from his brother, he knew that they needed his skills. He figured that he still had enough energy in him to take down a titan or two, even though his muscles felt they were going to burst from his skin from swelling. Besides, he'd rather have Al in a safer place away from the titans than heading for HQ.

"Don't worry Jean. I've got your back."

Jean scoffed, then set his sights straight ahead. If he was going to get everyone to HQ, then he was going to need all the help he could get. Just before Ed could advance any further, his movements were halted when he heard Jean's voice: "ED THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM! WE WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT THROUGH!"

"WE CAN'T JUST GIVE UP NOW! WE'RE TOO CLOSE TO BACK UP NOW!" In a moment's notice, a 10-meter titan jumped up in front of Ed. Using whatever mobility he still had, he swiftly shot around the titan's head, cutting his nape while the titan was still distracted. The titan shouted in agony as it fell to the ground.

Ed snarled in frustration, but he grudgingly shot himself onto one of the nearby roofs where Jean had landed. "So how do you suggest we get to HQ now?"

Jean shot Ed an incremental look. "How the hell am I supposed to know?

"No NO! COME ON!" Jean and Ed turned in horror to see a soldier on the ground, struggling for dear life to get his gear to work. He was out of gas. The thudding noise of titan footsteps came closer to the soldier. "No! Stay back!" He huddled back and held his blades out, trying to ward them away. "TOM! I'M COMING!" One of the other fellow soldiers cried out for his friend and rushed in to save him, along with two other soldiers.

"LET GO OF HIM!" The male soldier swung his blades, failing to notice the 7-meter titan. He writhed in agony as he felt his legs shattered under the force of the titan's grip.

"NO! STOP!" Edward Elric jumped from the roof, and with lightning fast speed, he was able to slice the nape of the titan that was left completely unguarded. Ed winced, feeling the sore aching from his muscles become an excruciating pain circling through his limbs.

The titan released the bawling soldier from his grip, but seven more titans surrounded the two. "HIDE IN THE HOUSES!" shouted Ed. "YOU'LL BE SAFE UNTIL REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE!" Jumping from his perched spot on the window, he stabbed the eyes of a 10-meter titan. The titan bellowed and groveled on the floor in pain. "JEAN! COME AND HELP ME!"

Jean didn't move a muscle. He could only stand there, utterly petrified at the carnage displayed before him. No…"

There were too many. Ed knew he couldn't take them out all at once. He shot himself up again to the rooftops next to Jean and the others. He failed, again. He couldn't finish the job and save the people who needed it the most. Did he dare to even look down?

Slowly moving his eyes to the titans, he let out a small gasp. There were now around 10 titans huddled around the soldiers who were made into their prey. The blood dripping from the mouths of their peers stained the ground, forever reminding Ed, Jean, and every other soldier around them of the lives that were lost because they couldn't save them.

Both Ed and Jean were staring down, contempt pulsing in their eyes. 'I'm the last person that should have been given the ranks,' thought Jean. 'But wait.'

A sudden thought occurred to Jean. There were at least 10-15 titans swarming around the soldiers. They didn't even notice any other soldiers standing on the rooftops. They could use this chance to make a break for HQ while they still could.

"Guys let's go! Now's our chance to get them while they're distracted!" The soldiers looked at him with shock in their eyes. None of them could respond before Jean sprinted for HQ. Ed was the first of the group to react. "He's right guys! Lets go while we have the chance!" With newfound adrenaline in his body, Ed ran to join Jean. Next came Marco, and then all the soldiers eventually understood this once in a (short) lifetime distraction.

They were all running for their lives. Their hearts were pounding though their chests, their eyes shot with energy, fear, and determination all mixed into one unexplainable emotion. For them, it was now or never.

As the group continued to fly across the sky, 3 titans ranging from 8 meters to 10 meters lumbered in their path. Unwilling to risk any of their lives, Jean, Ed, and the others avoided attacking the swarm of titans.

Without notice, a titan managed to grab Jean's leg. "Jean!" shouted Ed. Thinking fast, Jean cut off the fingers of the titan and speedily shot away to the nearby rooftop.

While they were running, Marco landed next to Jean with a smile on his face, and Ed directly beside him. "Jean! You really came through for us there man! We owe you big time!"

The brown haired cadet stared at Marco in disbelief. What the hell was he talking about?

"Yea! Not too bad for a pompous asshole like yourself!" said Ed.

"Don't shrug it off. You really are a natural-born leader!"

Did a titan knock Ed's brain loose? Unsure of what to say, Jean did what he usually did and scoffed at the two soldiers. "We're not out of the woods yet!" Ed and Marco could see what he was talking about. There were still literally dozens of titans still between them and HQ, and there was no apparent end in sight.

Jean and Ed narrowly dodged the titan's pink, meaty hands, which were too slow to anticipate the movements of the likes of Jean and Ed.

But sadly enough, one unfortunate soul couldn't evade the titan's hands. Jean and Ed looked back and grimaced at the gruesome death.

"DAMN IT!"

"We're almost there! Hang on Jean!" Jean and Ed braced themselves for the oncoming impact and held their legs out. As they crashed through the windows, Ed clenched his teeth. He thought landing on his automail leg would be more painful. He was terribly wrong. Accompanying them shortly after was Annie, Reiner, Bertolt, Marco, and a few other unnamed soldiers.

Neither Jean nor Ed could believe it. This ludicrous attempt of getting to HQ through an army of titans actually worked. But at what cost?

The realization and gravity of this fact hit Jean hard. He fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands. How many bodies did he crawl over? How many innocent soldiers were killed on his orders?

His ears picked up on the sound of quiet whimpering. He suddenly realized there were soldiers hiding under desks.

"Who the hell are you? Wait don't tell me… You're the supply team…"

Jean grabbed the terrified soldier and punched him as hard as he possibly could, sending him flying across the floor. "Jean!"

He was about to send another fist to his face, but Ed wrapped his arms around Jean before he could do anything else. "You cowards! You left us out there on our own! Soldiers are dead because you didn't have the balls to go out there and do your job!"

"The titans had us cornered from all directions! They took control of the supply room!" said the other traumatized female soldier.

"It's your job to take care of it and back us up anyway!"

Reiner was watching this display with a stern face, when his ears began to pick up something at high speeds approaching them. He definitely did not like the sound of that. "HIT THE DECKS!"

A titan with a terrifyingly creepy face broke through the castle wall. Like the panicked mob they were, the soldiers screamed and started to run toward the interior of the castle. Meanwhile, Jean once again stood there, absolutely petrified.

"Jean, we have to go!" Ed struggled, trying to pull his friend to join the others, but Jean wasn't budging an inch.

'So this is how it ends. This is the reality we live in,' thought Jean. 'Of course it is. How foolish was I. No, on a certain level, I think I knew this would be the endgame. I mean, when you really stop and use your brain for a second, anybody could see there's no winning. Not against them.'

But this wasn't the end of Jean Kirstein just yet. For unknowingly, a guardian angel had come to defend him, but this guardian was certainly no angel. A giant fist came into picture, kicking the two titans straight to the curb. "WHAT?!"The titan roared in triumphant anger, its voracious desire for titans only growing stronger.

"What the…" Jean refused to believe what he was looking at. And the surprises just kept on coming, but this time in the form of four soldiers named Mikasa, Armin, Connie, and Alphonse, and even odder was the fact that Connie was carrying Armin bridal-style. Jean's eyes widened as big as saucers. "Armin… Alphonse… Mikasa…."

"Woah, that was a close one… Almost ran out of gas there… But we made it. It's fucking crazy, but we pulled it off…"

"Al!" Ed ran over to his brother, relief palpable in his eyes. "Are you ok?"

The young Elric brother stared at his brother and gave him a sly smile. "I'm fine brother."

"Am… Am I dreaming this?" said a dumb stricken Jean.

"You two are certified geniuses! As far as anybody should be concerned, your word is the law! Hey Jean check it out! We found an abnormal that's not on good terms with its own kind, and the best part is, he couldn't give two shits about us! This big, beautiful son of a bitch is our ticket out of here!"

This was crazy. "Come on guys! Listen to what you're saying! A titan's not gonna freaking help us! You must be psychotic if you think this'll actually work-"

"It is working," said Mikasa, cutting Jean off. "Who knows why, but no matter the reason, he's still exterminating the titans. We have nothing to gain from interfering with him. Either way, do we really have any other option? At this moment, that titan is the only thing standing between death and us.

Ed, along with everyone else, was in awe at this titan's gargantuan power in comparison to regular titans. The titan was sending blow after blow, using effective, superior fighting methods to outmaneuver and outmatch the other titans. This thing wasn't only strong; it was an experienced fighter. But Ed knew there were bigger priorities at hand. "Come on. We have to group together and come up with a plan to take out the titans."

"With that badass titan outside, there's not a chance in hell the titans will break in now." Connie was getting Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt up to speed with this situation. "That's all well and good, but exactly what's stopping him from killing us after he's done killing all the titans?"

Connie shrugged his shoulders. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. He's still doing some real damage to their numbers."

Reiner smirked. "I guess you've got a point there. As long as he's buying us some time, that's good enough for me."

"Good news! We've got some weapons courtesy of the military police!" Jean and a few other soldiers were digging through the storage rooms to see if they could find anything useful, but the most they got were several crates of shotguns.

"Are you sure rifles are the way to go when fighting titans? " As usual, Jean was objecting the usefulness of the equipment given to them. We might as well throw pebbles at them and hope they get a black eye."

"Well, they're better than fighting them unarmed. Anyway, right now there are seven titans roaming the supply room all around 4 meters tall. If me, Ed, and Alphonse calculated right, this much ammunition should be enough to at the very least distract the titans," said Armin.

"So here's what we came up with," continued Ed. "Step 1: we lower a squad of around 15 to 20 soldiers with the lift as to attract the titans attention."

"Step 2: We wait until the titans draw close enough, then the group fires in all directions simultaneously, momentarily blinding them," said Alphonse.

Armin resumed talking again. "The final step is the trickier part. It's where we go all or nothing. While the titans are regenerating, 7 soldiers swoop down from the ceiling and deliver the final blow."

"Keep in mind the risks are high. If we screw up even a fraction, all of us are dead. It's a hell of a gamble for a single attack, but we've got to bet all in or not bet at all."

"Is everyone good with that?" questioned Ed. The soldiers remained quiet. "Alright then. Based on each individual's skill level, physical prowess, and capabilities with the paring blades, the 7 soldiers who'll attack the titans will be myself, Mikasa, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Jean, and Al."

Armin hunched his shoulders. "If anyone has any better ideas, I'm all ears. I know this is a incredibly dangerous bet, so I'm fine with any objections."

"Armin, don't be so hard on yourself like that," said Alphonse. "Given our limited options, I would say that this is a rather intelligent plan. I'm sure we'll be able to succeed."

"We'll be fine. Armin, you shouldn't doubt yourself like that. You're more intelligent and resourceful than you give yourself credit for," said Mikasa. "You're brain has saved us more times than you might think."

"What?"

"Mikasa's right," said Alphonse. "You're one of the most intelligent people I've met."

Armin tilted his head at his two friends. "I'm not so sure…"

"Lets go!" The shaft door shuttered open. "Everyone except the 7 soldiers, prepare your separate rifles and load yourself onto the shaft. The rest of us will walk down the basement," shouted Ed.

The group made their way for the stairs, but just before Ed could go with them, Armin stopped him in his tracks. "Are you sure you wanna do this? I noticed you were somewhat limping, and I saw you wince whenever you killed a titan. Are your mechanical limbs functional?"

"I just need to retune my limbs. Once that's done, I'll be just fine. It might hurt, but I'll manage. Good luck Armin." Ed patted Armin on the shoulder, then left without another word.

The 7 soldiers were slowly making their way to the basement, some nervous about the results, while others remained staid and calm.

"So are we all sure we can do this with no difficulty?" said a wary Alphonse.

"Don't worry Al. These guys are only 4 meters tall. Their weak spots are just below eye level."

"He's right. Size isn't the big issue here. Their weak spots still measure 1 meter high and 10 centimeters across."

"And if we somehow get up shit creek without a paddle, we can always hit their most vulnerable spot: their asshole. You send one of these babies up there, there's no way a titan will stand up again."

"Are you serious Reiner?" voiced Alphonse.

Ed promptly responded by punching Reiner in the arm. "Nice one. If they had any private parts, I'd stick this thing right up there-"

"Ed, dude! Too much information!" protested Jean. Ed simply snickered. "You really want your last words to be some penis joke?"

"If I have to go out, might as well go out laughing."

The dim lantern just barely lit the dark shaft tunnel. The soldiers nervously waited for their time to shine. "I hope to god this works…" muttered one of the piss- ridden soldiers.

When the group of soldiers finally reached the bottom, they all saw the titans peacefully walking about. "Alright everybody. Remember to fire only when they're in range, and don't lose your cool."

Each titan turned around and noticed the plethora of humans standing before them. With a slow stride, the titans calmly lumbered about to the group of humans, completely unaware of the 7 other humans hiding above, prepared to end their lives.

"Steady…" whispered Marco. The titans were now within a foot's distance of the soldiers. "Almost…" The air was moist with apprehension as the titans eyes were now mere inches away from the barrels of the guns.

"NOW!" The cadets took no chances, firing away their ammo like their life depended on it, which it did. The titan's eyes were blown apart, gray steam emanating from their wounds.

"LET'S GO!" The 7 cadets quickly sprinted across the ceiling and immediately pounced down on the titans. None of them stood a chance. One by one, the titans all fell to the ground as their carcasses evaporated into nothingness.

"Did we get them all?"

"I think we did."

"Alright! Let's load up on gas and get ready to go to the other side of the wall!"

The soldiers quietly roared in triumph. While the losses could not be forgotten, and their friends would sorely be missed, they had managed to survive. They would live to fight another day.

"We're going to live!"

"We actually pulled it off!"

"I'm going to see my family again!"

These and many more upbeat sentences spread across the soldiers like wildfire. They had a chance to fight. They'd gambled their lives, and they'd won the mother load. If they could pull off a suicide mission, they could make it through anything. This was the main idea driving through the minds of the cadets as they flew off for the walls.

Ed, Al, Armin, and the others exited the building, their emotions from today's events still causing inner turmoil. "Should we go with the rest of the soldiers and scale the wall?" asked Alphonse.

"Wait, where's Mikasa?" The trio spotted Mikasa standing on the rooftop alone, as if looking at something. The three launched to her to see what she was spectating.

"Mikasa, what are you doing? We have to evacuate to the other side of the wall," said Alphonse.

"Look down there…"The three complied, and their mouths gaped open. The titans were consuming the abnormal titan that utterly annihilated the other titans. Both its arms were gone, and its ribcage was showing. Its skin was now a pale pink color, the bright green eyes now a pale lime shade. The titan looked severely weakened, and for some odd reason, it wasn't regenerating its wounds.

"Can it not regenerate itself like the other titans?" said Ed.

"But that doesn't make any sense. Before, it was able to regenerate its hand in a matter of seconds. So why would its regeneration suddenly halt?" inquired Alphonse.

"I know this might sound ridiculous, but I honestly thought that whatever that titan was would be the key to turning the tide of this ongoing war. To just give us enough leeway for a glimmer of hope to shine on us."

"You're right Mikasa," said Reiner, to Mikasa's nominal surprise. "There's something peculiar about him. He's too important for us to let him be eaten like this. I say we eliminate the other titans so this abnormal will have enough time to regenerate."

"Are you out of your damn mind? We finally have a gateway out of this hell zone, and you want to stay to help a titan?"

"Use your logic. Having such a powerful titan like this would be an unparalleled asset to humanity. I would vouch for helping save it," reasoned Annie.

Jean incrementally stared at his comrades. "You guys are insane…"

Armin looked back at the scene and realized another titan coming into the scene, a titan that looked all too familiar. "It's the titan that ate Thomas!"

Ed forced himself to stay put and not hack that titan to pieces right then and there. Once Al scaled the wall, he'd find the titan that ate Eren and do the worst things he could concoct.

It appeared the abnormal felt the same way. With apparent newfound energy, the abnormal shoved it's way through the other titans consuming it and sunk his teeth deep into the titan's neck. Everyone gasped in awe.

The abnormal lifted the titan with only its mouth, further exemplifying his unbelievable strength. To finish the job, he hammered the other titans down with the titan in its jaw, then threw the titan straight into the final titan standing, effectively killing them both.

"Jesus Christ…" The titan let out a final roar of triumph over the battlefield of decaying carcasses and dried titan blood. "What were you saying before?"

The titan fell to the ground, finally defeated. "Because it's a moot point now. Enough sightseeing. We have to leave. We're lucky that fucker died when he did, or else we'd have been titan food." But nobody moved an inch.

Something was emerging from the nape of the titan's nape. It looked like it was a… human. And it was someone… familiar. Someone who should have been dead, a tragic memory lost to the passage of time, a mere shadow in the darkness of dead bodies. The human who was emerging from the titan was Eren Yeager.

For a moment, Mikasa felt her heart stop. Everything around her faded away, the entire world disappearing away around her. Eren...

Mikasa shot down from the roof and ran as fast as she possibly could. Eren's here… Eren here… These were the only thoughts processing through Mikasa's mind. As soon as she made it to Eren, she wrapped herself around him, checking to make sure that this was real. His silky black hair, the warmth emanating from his body… It was real. Was he still…

Mikasa placed her ear against his chest.

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

There were no words that could explain what Mikasa was feeling at that moment. All she knew was that Eren was alive, and in her arms. And as she began to cry like a baby, she silently thanked whatever god was up there for keeping Eren alive. Even though she had lost her family, Eren was still with her. And for that, she was eternally grateful.

Alphonse, Armin, and Ed soon shot down and sprinted to the unconscious Eren. They all knelt beside him in nearly identical positions. But while Mikasa and Armin were brimming with a combination of shock and joy, Ed and Alphonse were stricken with a horrible realization. Both Eren's left leg and right arm were completely intact. There wasn't even a scar.

"Eren, please tell me you aren't…" Ed's voice faltered when he saw a bright red substance flowing through Eren's body: A Philosopher's Stone.

* * *

 _And that's a wrap folks! Until chapter 13! Also, just a reminder, assume any events that occurred in the anime but aren't specifically highlighted in the chapter happened the same way as in the anime._


End file.
